The Age of Apocalypse: The Legacy of Apocalypse
by King of the Worthless
Summary: Final Chapter: The Egyptian Dusk... Apocalypse is reborn. Seven towers are being built. The X-Men and their allies must make difficult decisions as the sun sets for the last time.
1. The Mutant Underground

**What? The disclaimer has arrived!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own X-Men: Evolution. THERE. I DID IT. BAH!**

**This is a sequel of sorts to my other fic, Age of Apocalypse: Alternate Reality. I say "of sorts" because this one takes place in a similar timeline, but a few events that happened in the first fic never occurred, though it does directly tie in to it through a common OC... but don't worry, he's not going to do much in this fic, if I decide to have him appear at all. Fortunately for you, you don't have to read the first one to get this one (there will be introductions for characters that retain their AoA:AR personas), and just for you, a quick explanation will be provided here in the prologue... those of you who have read the first one, go ahead and read the prologue, too. It may seem the same, but there will be some slight differences that will be important later on.**

**Anyway, the first one was R-rated, but this one is PG-13. Going more for effect than outright violence, but there will be some darker stuff later on, but nothing you guys probably aren't used to. Oh, and excuse the grammar.**

Humankind has ruled the planet Earth for as long as it has existed. All of the creatures on this planet have their own special adaptation. Some can fly, some can swim, some can crawl, some can climb. Some have claws, some have teeth, some have horns, some have spines. Humanity was given the greatest gift of all; intelligence. As the most intelligent creatures on the planet, humans are capable of sentience, reason, and even logic.

Humankind has used this intelligence to adapt to their environment ever since the first tools were invented. Humans were able to suit themselves to any environment on the planet, and eventually, they spread to all corners of the Earth. From this, different variations of humanity appeared. Early in their history, when these different races encountered each other, they were met with mutual curiosity, and their differences led to hatred, and eventual suffering.

Centuries have passed, and since that time of prejudice, the various kinds of humans have settled their differences, and now coexist. In the time it took for these races to unite, new technology rose beyond the early tools, and allowed humanity to take a different approach to adaptation. Rather than change themselves to suit their environment, humanity began to change the environment to suit themselves. Because of this, internal change had come to a near halt. Humanity stopped evolving.

But then, their evolution gene was awakened. It remains unclear why this happened, only that it did. Known as the X-Factor Gene, partially named after Professor Charles Xavier, an X-Factor Positive researcher who had studied the gene for years, this new twist on humanity advanced itself to the point of giving some humans extraordinary, even dangerous powers. Recipients of the X-Factor Gene are often referred to as "mutants," and the so-called "normal" humans have come to hate and fear these mutants and their powers.

All that changed, however, with the awakening of the long-dormant mutant En Sabah Nur, or as he would come to be known, Apocalypse.

As Professor Xavier and his former associate, Erik Lehnsherr, recruited mutants to their causes, Apocalypse likewise did. Years after he had destroyed both the X-Men and Magneto, Apocalypse realized that his bouts with them had severely weakened him. He employed the aid of a mutant called Shifter to travel into the past and alter history.

This time-traveling Shifter slipped through time to a period before Xavier and Magneto parted ways, when neither had fully developed their radically different philosophies, and the only thing that was known was that mutants did, indeed, exist. Erik quickly dispatched the assassin by driving a metal pin through his heart, but not before the assassin had fired. Erik had tried to stop the bullet that raced towards his friend's head, but he was met with one great misfortune: the bullet was not made of metal. His friend Charles died instantly.

It was then that Erik looked through Xavier's old logs, hoping to salvage what he could of Xavier's research before it was all taken away by the state, as Xavier had no heir and had made no will. Erik discovered that Xavier had believed that mutants and humans should coexist peacefully, though he had never fully discussed the issue with him. Though Erik secretly believed that humans would come to hate mutantkind, he thought it was best to honor the memory of his good friend by doing everything he could to make sure that humans and mutants lived side-by-side, burying his doubts inside and hoping that Xavier would not be proven wrong.

Erik founded the Xavier Institute for Mutant Research, after his old friend, and began to recruit mutants to his cause. They would come to be known as the X-Men.

After years of practice, the X-Men and their allies defeated Apocalypse. Ironically enough, they had suffered severe casualties in the battle and a young version of Shifter traveled back in time to alter history once again. Through unknown means, he managed to get past the doors of Apocalypse's tomb and kill the tyrant before he had a chance to unleash his power upon the world. Realizing that the future Apocalypse had sent his older self to kill Xavier and inadvertantly, the weakening of the X-Men, the young Shifter tried to stop his older self, but he failed to reach the site in time. The older Shifter was killed, and the younger Shifter's fate remains a mystery.

The time-travelers' movements sent ripples through time, altering certain events and affecting the lives of many people.

Raven Darkholme, a shape-shifting woman and friend of Erik, thought Xavier's philosophy to be nonsense, but she remained Magneto's closest ally. With the time and reality altered, her son Kurt was never taken from her, and she went on to give birth to another girl, who she named Marie. She later adopted two other children, who had both faced ridicule due to their mutations.

This, of course, came at a time when mutants were scarce. For reasons unknown, the altering of time had somehow caused many more mutants to appear in a short amount of time. Humans grew increasingly afraid of mutants, and mutants grew more agitated by constant human persecution. The resulting fights, riots, and murders furthered the tension between the two groups. A scientist named Bolivar Trask was among the fiercest of the mutant-haters. He had conspired with others to form the Pure Blood Movement, a political idea that was nothing more than an excuse for genocide. Dr. Trask even went as far as designing a super-robot made solely to hunt down mutants. Before the machine could be built, Dr. Trask was mysteriously killed, and the design blueprints destroyed. The only clue police found was a small trace of acid on the melted door of Trask's home. Forensic research revealed the acid was a biological secretion produced by a human... a mutant.

Though the X-Men no longer have to worry about the tyrant Apocalypse, a less obvious but no less dangerous enemy has appeared to fill the void...

A small, pudgy mutant covered in warts trudged through the sewers below the streets of New York, carrying several bags from the surface. He avoided the rats that crawled through the access tunnels that led into the main area and kicked away a mutated six-legged frog. Though the X-Factor gene only affected humans, the sewers were filled with all sorts of toxins that resulted in mutations among animals, though none as drastic as those that had appeared in humans. He saw the fire burning at the far end and ran towards it.

"Food's here!" Lucid yelled as he saw the pudgy mutant enter. Several mutants crawled out of hiding from behind the walls, tunnels and chambers of the sewer. None of them could pass themselves off as humans topside, but in the Morlock Tunnels, their appearances didn't matter. Lucid himself was short and reptilian, with a large snout in place of a proper human face. One of the mutants, a young man with a bald head and dirty brown clothes, walked near the access tunnel and threw a rock into the murky water. Clearly, Ray Crisp, called Berzerker by his peers, was growing annoyed with their lifestyle. It was the same thing, day in, day out. They couldn't leave the filthy rat den they were calling "home" for fear of human violence, but they would send one of their smaller members up to the surface daily to bring back food. Sometimes he brought back enough, often he didn't.

"What troubles you, Berzerker?" one of the other Morlocks, Cybelle, asked him. Her face was less than attractive, but among the Morlocks, she was almost normal. She wore special gloves that resisted the acidic substance she secreted from her hands, and allowed her to touch things without melting them.

"What doesn't, Cybelle? I'm getting tired of all of this. We go up, the humans beat us. We stay here, we live in filth."

"There's nothing we can do, Berzerker. We just have to put up with it."

"I know. That's why I'm so frustrated."

"The hamburgers Lump brought back are almost whole, come on." Cybelle led Berzerker back to the table where other Morlocks looked through the garbage brought back and saw if there was anything edible left. As they ate, someone in the shadows kept a close eye on them. According to the lab results, the acid found on Trask's door had matched the DNA samples of Cybelle.

"Someone else is here," a mutant with overgrown ears alerted the others. With the element of surprise gone, the assault began. The sound of gunfire echoed through the sewer chambers, mixed with the screams of dying Morlocks. A few of the them scattered, but many of them decided to stay and fight, among them Berzerker.

"Get the children out!" he yelled. He fired a bright blue beam of electric energy at the enemy, but a small disc managed to absorb it. The disc was thrown and exploded, unleashed all of the store energy taken from Berzerker and killing several more Morlocks. Berzerker was far enough away from the blast that he was only hit in the leg, and a larger Morlock caught him as he fell and carried him away, into an escape tunnel. The other Morlocks followed, as did the enemy that attacked them. A young girl with oversized hands, called Torpid by the others, remained in the main chamber to observe the damage... seventeen dead Morlocks, disgusting, deformed mutants all covered in holes with their blood lining the gray brick walls of the main chamber. She looked around and found several more bodies face down in the sludge. He pulled one of them up to get a look at her face... Cybelle, with a bullet through her forehead.

Frightened, Torpid huddled against a wall. No other Morlocks were with her, at least none that still lived. She wanted to call out, to see if there was anyone left, but she was too afraid.

Her answer came in the appearance of a tall, thin man dressed in gray and black, with a black hood over his face, marked with a white Cross on his forehead. In his left hand, he carred a long pole with a blade attached at the end, and in his right hand, an ivory knife covered in different shades of red blood. Torpid raised her hands in defense.

"No sin will go unpunished," the raspy voice proclaimed. The hooded man raised his blade, but he was hit from behind by a surge of electrical energy. As Berzerker pounded the hooded man, the black-haired girl called Scaleface took Torpid and ran down the hall. Quickly, before the hodded man could get up, Berzerker ran after him.

"No sin will go unpunished," the raspy voice proclaimed.

**X-Men: Evolution**

"**The Legacy of Apocalypse"**

**King of the Worthless**

**Chapter One - The Mutant Underground**

Nobody was quite sure why, but Bayville, New York, seemed to be the center of mutant activity. The Morlock tunnels reached as far as downtown Bayville, and two known mutant houses were located nearby. One was the Xavier Institute, located in a metal building outside of city limits. The other, less obvious of the two was the Brotherhood of Bayville Boarding House, residence of the Darkholme family. Though the two groups didn't see eye-to-eye, but they weren't enemies.

"C'mon, c'mon, where is it?!" Kurt Darkholme cried in frustration. His room was a ruined mess, and not just because he had emptied out every drawer and thrown everything around looking for a particular item. Kurt was a fairly normal-looking boy, though there was one obvious mutation that had appeared: he had a fuzzy tail. His natural hair color was blue, and so, his tail was blue as well, before he dyed it, anyway. His favorite color was black, so all of his blue hair had been changed to that color. His tail had only recently emerged, and he was still getting used to having an extra appendage waving around behind him. His family was especially annoyed by his limited control over it. Kurt scratched his head and looked through a pile of art supplies. "Oh... don't tell me I lost it!"

"What exactly are you looking for?" Kurt's adopted older brother Scott Darkholme asked as he leaned against the doorway. Scott wore a black leather jacket, ripped jeans and a cigarette in his mouth, as well as a pair of metal sunglasses equipped with a twin set of iris-shutters; the exterior of each was coated with traditional black-tinted glass, but the interior had a layer of ruby-quartz that kept Scott's deadly eye-beams in check. His brown hair was disorderly and hung down almost to his shoulders, and he hadn't shaved in days. "Your room's a damn mess. More than usual, anyways."

"None of your business!"

"Must be a personal item," Todd giggled. Todd Wyngarde, or Toad as he was known, was taken in by the Darkholmes, though not legally adopted like Scott. Toad was short and skinny with pale skin and green hair, styled in a mohawk. He seemed to have piercings everywhere, including a stud at the end of his long, frog-like tongue. "Panties, from some poor girl you're stalking?"

"Shut up, Toad, this isn't funny!"

"I think I know!" their sister Marie said. She was Kurt's biological sister, and her style of dress was decidedly unconservative. Her tight workout pants showed off her natural curves and her small white and green shirt hugged her chest, leaving little to the imagination. She wore a slightly oversized brown jacket with the sleeves rolled back and a pair of black gloves. Her brown and white-streaked hair grew out past her shoulders. She wasn't often alone, but preferred to do things her way, hence her nickname, Rogue. She held up a folded piece of paper. "Could it be a note from someone?"

"Hey! Give it back!" Kurt yelled. He disappeared in flash and puff of smoke and reappeared in the same fashion next to Rogue. "C'mon, it's not funny!"

"Well... okay..." Kurt held out his hand and Rogue dropped it. A green tongue snapped out of nowhere and took the note. Cackling, Toad hopped out of the room and down the stairs.

"TOAD!"

"It's on now!" Scott declared as he and his sister ran after them. Kurt appeared at the bottom of the stairs, but Toad jumped over him and kicked off the front door, heading back up the stairs and passing the note to Scott as Kurt started up the stairs. "Now let's see who wrote this!"

"Scott, please!" Scott jumped down the stairs and ran into the kitchen. When Kurt appeared on the table, Scott ran out the back door and around to the front lawn, where Kurt again appeared. Before he could snatch it away, Scott threw the note to Rogue, who was waiting at the front door and ran back up the stairs. "Rogue, stop! This isn't funny! Please!"

"Alright, you've had your fun," Mystique said as she took the note from Rogue and gave it back to Kurt. Raven Darkholme was once a criminal in Europe, but she decided to leave that life behind and start a family in the United States. Though she could be very strict and impatient, she loved her children, even the two that she had taken in. She made no attempt to hide her blue skin from the world, though she could easily change into a more normal form. She wore a long black skirt with a red blouse and spoke with a tone of authority. "That note is Kurt's business."

"We were just goofing around, mom," Scott said.

"I know that, but you're all old enough to know better. Now, Magneto and one of his X-Men will be here any minute now, and I want you on your best behavior."

"Dammit, is he going to try and recruit us again?!"

"No. We're going to discuss some matters. You don't have to talk with him, but I'd appreciate it if you behaved yourselves."

"Eh, I'm gonna go for a ride or something."

"Even better." As Scott walked downstairs, Kurt sneaked back into his room and unfolded the note. Toad and Rogue silently watched from the door, giggling as Kurt whispered the words to himself. They didn't go unnoticed for long.

"Wha?! This is private!"

"So who is she?" Toad asked. "Who's your 'huggles'? Who's gonna 'keep you warm at night'?"

"SHUT UP!"

"Get to your rooms!" Mystique yelled. Quickly, they obeyed.

"Thanks, mom. You saved my life there!"

"Oh, don't thank me just yet. I want you to brew some coffee for us."

"...I knew there was a catch."

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Erik Magnus Lehnsherr was his given name, but he chose to be called Magneto. Wearing a gray suit with a silver tie, Magneto sat in the Darkholmes' living room, sipping a cup of coffee "kindly" offered by Kurt Darkholme, who stood next to his seated mother. Magneto was an old man, but appeared young due to enhanced mutations, though his hair was white. Standing at Magneto's side with his hands behind his back was his son and right-hand man, Pietro Lehnsherr, codenamed Quicksilver. Pietro's hair was silver like his father's and swept back, and he wore a blue outfit that was similar to a suit, but more casual, with the sleeves rolled up and the jacket partially unbuttoned. Pietro was in independent thinker, though not quite the visionary leader his father was. He followed in his father's footsteps, hoping to one day become leader of the X-Men, but he was happy enjoying his free time and lack of real responsibility in the meantime.

"...And you think the Morlocks are innocent?" Mystique asked. Both knew about the massacre below the city, but neither was sure about the details.

"There is something else at work here, Raven. The Morlocks are thieves and cynics, but they are not murderers."

"Even if they didn't do it, I'm sure whoever slaughtered them didn't know the truth themselves."

"You may be right. If they were framed, their killers were the ones fooled. But who would want the Morlocks dead?"

"I don't know many people who are even aware of them. Erik, do you think it was mutant hunters? We could be next."

"There's no doubt that their killers were mutant hunters... but another group may have framed them. This doesn't make any sense. There's no reason they should be after us specifically."

"You need to open your eyes, Erik. The Morlocks never hurt anyone, if someone wanted them dead, it was because they were mutants. Only Cybelle was wanted for Trask's murder, they had absolutely no evidence that any others were involved... and..." Mystique paused briefly, disgusted by what she knew. "They were all slaughtered. Even children. This may have to do with the recent mutant disappearances around the world, too. I think there might be a trend."

"I hope you are wrong, Raven. I hope that their deaths were a part of a minor scheme of revenge. In any event, we must be prepared." Magneto took a sip of his coffee. "...There were some survivors."

"Yes? Well we'd better go talk."

"I tried. They're still in shock. They won't talk to anyone."

"Maybe Callisto could talk with them?" Mystique suggested.

"Yes... I'll arrange a meeting. She might be able to get answers out of them... though, knowing her, she will take her time."

-------------------------------

Scott Darkholme got off his motorcyle and walked into an alley on the south side of Bayville with a single light to show the way. Just inches from the light's reach there was a red door, which Scott knocked three times, then kicked twice. There was no response.

"Shit, got it mixed up again." He knocked twice, then kicked three times. The peephole slid open and a pair of blue eyes looked him over.

"Got the password, chief?"

"Kirby Lee."

"Go proof, pal?" Scott pulled back his glasses slightly, letting the red glow leak out. "Good enough for me." The blue eyes shifted to a less human pair of iridescent yellow eyes. The peephole closed and the door opened. "I'm glad you could make it," the red-skinned, amphibious mutant said after Scott handed him a few bills. Past the door was a large, circular room lined with chairs, all filled with mutants of all kinds. In the center was a pit surrounded by a cage that kept the spectators out, and inside, two mutants fought as the rest placed bets on the outcome. Against the outer wall of the club was a bar, tended to be a six-armed woman. Scott found a seat near the front of the stands with the bar behind him.

"Good, you saved me a seat," Scott said to John Allerdyce, commonly known as Pyro. Pyro kept his clothes simple, wearing a pair of jeans and a white tank top and letting his hair stand up like the fire he loved so much. He always had a lighter in his hand and frequently played with the flame, but was never distracted by it. "Who's fighting?"

"Got some Russian laborer and last week's champ. Not sure what the big guy can do, but he's not taking the Wolverine down so easily."

"Settle down, settle down!" a gray-skinned announcer with a black dreadlocked beard spoke from the bar, next to the six-armed bartender. "We've got a hell of a show for you tonight, folks! If you've ever been here before, then you know who was champion last night, Saturday the week before, and every night he's been here," The spectators cheered and hollered. "The man from the northern wilderness, built like a wolf, tough as a bear, the Wolverine!"

Logan, the man known as the Wolverine, was already inside the cage-pit, wearing only a pair of jeans and a set of metal dogtags. He took a puff of his cigar and raised his fists to the cheering crowd, then exposed his hidden weapons: a set of bony claws on each fist, three claws on each hand, with each claw appearing between his knuckles. Seeing those famous claws, the crowd went wild, and Logan grinned.

"Well tonight, we've got a newcomer, a Russian worker brave enough to take on the Wolverine! Is he tough enough or just plain stupid? Now where are your manners, folks? Give a round of applause for Colossus!" Logan looked over his opponent, a young but heavily built Russian worker called Piotr Rasputin, easily twice Logan's size, wearing a pair of overalls and a white shirt, with his hands tied together by large iron handcuffs. Like all fighters in this place, he had taken a stage name. The pit itself was lined with a thick metal fence that protected the glass wall, which was tinted to keep any outside eyes from seeing inside, but everyone knew that the owner of the club was down there, watching the fight with favored guests. "You all know the rules, but for the new people here tonight, let's clue them in! What are the rules?"

"There are none!" the crowd excitedly replied. Pyro grinned and cheered with a loud "YEAH!"

"Then let's get this show on the road! Fighters, ready!" Wolverine and Colossus assumed fighting stances. "Let's get ready to RUUUUUM-ack!" The announcer glared at the bartender, who had accidentally smacked him with one of her arms as she was fixing a drink for someone. "...Just fight already!"

Wolverine jumped against the cage and flew at his enemy with his claws out, but Colossus rolled out of the way. Wolverine grabbed the cage fence and jumped at him again. This time, Colossus caught him by the hands and kicked him in the chest. Wolverine flew back, but was on his feet quickly.

"I'll give you this," Wolverine gruffly said, "You're tough, kid..." Wolverine lunged at Colossus's legs and slashed at them both, but he only managed to tear his pants. He looked up to see that his young opponent had transformed into living metal, strong enough to protect him from Wolverine's claws.

"You have no idea," the accented Colossus said. He dropped his fist onto Wolverine's head and then held the stunned mutant above his head. With all his strength he threw him against the ground, leaving a large dent on the pit floor as Wolverine bounced up to Colossus's chest, groaning, before Colossus punched him against the metal pit fence.

"What an upset! Tonight's winner and the new king of the cage, Colossus!" Colossus waved one hand to the crowd, then quickly went to Wolverine.

"I am sorry. I needed the money."

"Erghh... don't... sweat it..." The crowd erupted in boos and angry cries. Most of them stood to lose money on the outcome of the match. Pyro, however, stayed calm, with a wide grin on his face. He held a ticket with the word "OPPONENT" on it.

"...Pyro? How could you have known he was that strong? Did you..." Scott started to ask.

"I might have met him before, but who's to say? It's not like we're mates or anything." Pyro nodded to Colossus. "Don't feel bad, tell you what, I'll split it with you."

"Thanks, Pyro. I didn't even place a bet tonight."

"Oh. No deal, then." Many others started pounding against the cage in outrage. "Alright, it's getting rowdy in here! Ready for a good riot, Darkholme?"

"Let's go!" Scott grabbed an empty bottle nearby and smashed it against the cage, creating a sharp-edged weapon and preparing himself. A mutant near him, wearing a cap and sunglasses to hide his face, threw a whip made of light at the cage and burned right through it. Not specifically defending Colossus, Scott was looking for a reason to attack someone, and stabbed the whip-wielder in the chest, then blasted him with two clear red beams from his eyes. Clutching his wound, the whip-wielder threw his whip at him, but Scott rolled out of the way and kicked him to Pyro, who sprayed him with a cloud of flame from his tiny little lighter.

"Break it up, break it up!" the announcer yelled. He dropped his microphone onto the floor with a loud electronic squeal as a bird-like mutant flew into the booth and attacked him. The bird-woman fell back out, covered in poisoned needles launched by the gray-skinned announcer, who quickly picked up his microphone. "Let's all settle down, we've got another match coming up, if you lost betting on Wolverine, maybe you can win it all back betting on our next match!"

"We don't have another match," the six-armed bartender told him.

"We'll have to improvise," the announcer told her, holding his hand over the microphone. "Tell the boss we need two more fighters." Within minutes, two mutants entered from the back room and stepped into the cage, one a yellow-skinned woman with large eyes, the other a white, bear-like creature. Colossus pushed through the crowd into the back room, followed by Wolverine and several club employees.

"Aw, over already?" Scott pouted. "Fine. This better be a good one."

"Yeah, we need some better entertainment." Pyro kicked a bleeding man off his chair and sat back down alongside Scott. "Betting this time?"

"Nope."

"I think I might use some of my winnings from that match earlier..."

"No, you're going to duck early tonight," a deep voice told him and put a hand on their shoulders. It was Freddy Dukes, a member of the X-Men. He was a large man with a thick body and even thicker arms, a bald head, and wearing the black and silver-armored uniform of the X-Men. Freddy was strong, but he wasn't stupid. He was often considered the wisest of the X-Men, as he liked to think things through instead of rushing into action.

"Awww, Fred, what do you-"

"Hey, that's enough out of you, Pyro. Magneto sent me to get you two out of here before you fellas get in any more trouble." With the strength of twenty men, he pulled them out of their seats and carried them towards the front door.

"Good night, drive safe," the amphibious doorman said.

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Pyro sat in a metal chair in one of the metal rooms at the metal Xavier Institute... sometimes he wished the place was made of wood, or something. Paper?

Scott, meanwhile, waited in one of the holding cells one level below... but he had a TV in there. Pyro didn't.

The rest of the X-Men stood around the room, having been in a Danger Room session while Pyro was away. There was Freddy Dukes, of course, whose codename was Stalwart. Next to him was his girlfriend Jean Grey, called Converse, who wore her red hair in a long ponytail and was rarely seen smiling. She almost never had anything nice to say, but she was easy on the eyes, so Pyro had no problem with her, even if she was taken by the least likely of the team.

On the other side of the room was Pietro, still dressed in his casual attire, and next to him was a blue, gorilla-like man named Hank McCoy, the Beast. He wore a pair of black pants with silver shin-guards, and there were notable lines across his chest and upper arms where hair didn't grow, spots where the skin beneath was scarred. Beast was an intelligent man, but he had a short attention span and tended to daydream quite a bit. He wasn't paying attention to anything else in the room, busy reading a book, "Neural Pathways and Hidden Secrets."

Magneto, now dressed in his black battle outfit with silver armor and violet cape, walked into the room, followed by the Scarlet Witch, his daughter Wanda Lehnsherr. She wore black with silver like the others, but she also wore a red cape that symbolized her status as team leader. Her black hair was worn to her shoulders and a silver frame adorned her face. Wanda took after her father and displayed natural authority and maturity that made her a natural field leader, unlike her less controlled brother, who was not an active X-Man. Magneto looked at Pyro, then stepped aside. He would allow his daughter to handle the situation.

"Do you have any idea what time it is, Pyro?" Wanda asked him calmly.

"...er... late?"

"It's midnight. You left the Institute sometime at nine."

"Yeah, I wasn't out long then, what's the worry?"

"You had a class at ten. The students wandered into the Danger Room alone."

"Er... whoops."

"Whoops? Two of them have been seriously injured! Pyro, you're a member of the X-Men. You have a responsibility to the team and especially to the students under you, and you went out to watch some fight in a back-alley club?"

"Aw, it's not so bad, I got-"

"Quiet!" Wanda yelled. "You disobeyed orders and you let your students endanger themselves! This is unacceptable! I should throw you off the team for this!" Pyro cringed and looked down to the metal floor. "But I won't. You've proven yourself an X-Man, and this is your first serious screwup, so I'm giving you another chance, Pyro."

"I... thanks, Wanda, you won't regret it!"

"Now get to your room. You're on suspension for a week. Until then, your students will be divided among the rest of the team." Pyro grinned nervously and left the room. "How did I do?" Wanda asked her father.

"Satisfactory," Magneto said. "If he fails again, I'll deal with him. You are all officially off-duty. Rest well." The metal doors opened and Magneto left the room.

"I'll be taking some rest, too," Wanda said.

"Right, I forgot we have Scott here tonight."

"Shut up, Pietro."

"Hold the elevator, Wanda," Beast said. "I'll need some rest as well. I have that debate tomorrow."

**It has begun! Who was the hooded killer? Was he working alone, or was he part of a team? Is something... shady going on at the club? What's Beast debating? Most importantly, what's in Kurt's note? WELL?!**

**No really, someone tell me. I'm lost.**


	2. The Mutant Massacre

Alright. It looks like I neglected to explain a few things. Thanks to Caliente for pointing this out, so here we go...

The following explanation pertains only to those who have read Alternate Reality.

Since Xavier's dead, a lot of what happened in AoA: AR is still in place, but since Apocalypse is also dead, he hasn't taken over. Thus, anyone allied with him in that fic is now free to be themselves. Hence, Storm, Iceman, Avalanche and Angel are no longer horsemen. The fact that they aren't horsemen has also affected the lives of others... Evan and Kitty, to name two. Don't worry, we'll get to them. There will be an explanation for Pietro's involvement with the X-Men. Just to add to the fun, some of the concepts introduced in AoA: AR will have relevance here, even if they weren't really dealt with then or go unexplained here... case in point, Pyro's involvement with the X-Men. In AR, you learned that Pyro's father was a friend of Magneto, but that never really came up again. So there you go, using familial connections, Pyro's with Magneto's X-Men. In addition, I can tell you now that not all characters from AR will be in this... I doubt they will be missed, however.

So basically, everything from AR happened, up until the very, very end. This story assumes that instead of setting things right, Shifter (Paul McGregor) screwed up and didn't manage to stop Xavier from dying. How that happened and why he hasn't corrected it will be discussed later...

END EXPLANATION.

Just so you guys know, if a character's name isn't stated when they first appear (with the exception of last chapter's hooded killer, who will get a name by the end of this chapter), you don't have to bother remembering about them. They may appear again, but they won't do anything important or really noteworthy.

You'll see a familiar name here, the real name of a classic X-Villain, but he won't be acting as said villain in this story. He's really only here because he was briefly introduced posthumously in AoA: AR, but never had a chance to really do anything. Also, another X-Villain will appear, though he's not very well-known, and yes, I've changed him around a bit. Oh, and excuse the grammar.

****

Chapter Two - The Mutant Massacre

Ororo Monroe waved her hand, and her thugs escorted a gambler out of her sight. She sat in a nice, soft chair underneath the mutant club in fairly large room with a ground-level view of the pit fights by way of a tinted window. Storm wore a black and gray outfit that gave an impression of elegance, but not quite so formal. Her snow-white hair was worn in a bun over her head with her bangs still flowing freely. She was surrounded by her entourage, all of them mutants who worked for her. She was respected and feared by them, as she could summon a terrible storm in the blink of an eye. They all knew why she was called Storm, and few were foolish enough to incur her wrath.

"Your drink, madam," an insect-like mutant said to Storm, holding a drink on a tray.

"Thank you. How much did we make with Colossus's fight?"

"We have made fifty-thousand."

"Only fifty-thousand?"

"Well, madam, we had to pay Rasputin his share..."

"Of course, but I was expecting everyone to bet on Wolverine."

"Many did not place bets last night..." the majordomo fluttered his veiny wings nervously.

"Get in contact with Colossus, we'll need his services again." Storm rose up and walked to one of her other associates. Storm understood the old saying that honey attracted more friends than vinegar, and though her dealings were less than legal, she had a way of making them appear more attractive to her underlings. "Evan, is your team ready?"

"We are ready," Evan Daniels, her nephew, said to her. Evan was possibly the most loyal in her organization, even if he had a tendency to disobey orders, so long as Storm's main goal was achieved. Evan wore regular street clothes, unlike his more refined aunt, and kept his eyes hidden behind a pair of sunglasses and his black hair tightly braided against his head, giving many the impression of a thuggish bodyguard. Most of the time, he kept two spikes extended on each forearm, but he could produce several more, if he desired. There were five men on his team, all standing behind him and remaining silent while their bosses spoke. "...Well, almost."

"What's the problem?"

"...You still haven't told us what it is we're doing."

"There's a debate being held tonight in Washington," Storm's majordomo explained for her. "It will be televised by several major networks as well as syndicated radio."

"I want you to take two of the speakers down, on-air," Storm said.

"On-air? You want some public backlash?"

"I want them to understand what we're capable of. We don't need sympathy, we need respect."

"If I may, mademoiselle," one of Evan's men spoke. It was Gambit, a thief wearing a dirty blue jumpsuit, a gray jacket and holding a staff. He gave Storm a charming smirk and winked one of his red-on-black eyes, but Storm had no interest in him. Nevertheless, she was curious as to what he had to say, and nodded to him. "I think I can handle this one alone."

"LeBeau, you're hardly skilled enough to take them all down."

"Maybe we don't have to," Evan suggested. "How about we only kill one of the speakers, the one that disagrees with you most?"

"Hmm... if we specifically target the anti-mutant speaker, it would attract more attention. Excellent idea, Evan." Gambit sneered at Evan. "Alright. We'll wait." She turned to her majordomo. "Do you know who's speaking against mutants?"

"Indeed, madam," the insect-man said. "He is based in Ireland."

"Evan, you'll be there waiting when he gets home," Storm said, grinning. Evan nodded and turned to his men. In addition to Gambit, there was a black-haired man wearing a scarf that covered his mouth, a gray-skinned man with what appeared to be rocks growing out of his skin here and there, a blonde man wearing a shirt bearing the British flag, and a well-built Native American with a red eagle tattooed onto his face. Nodding in return, they left with Evan and Gambit. "...This drink is watered down. Bring me another one."

-------------------------------

"Spent the night at Magneto's pad again?" Toad asked as Scott walked into the house sometime past noon.

"Maybe. What's it to you, tadpole?"

"Just sayin', if I were getting tail like that I'd be braggin'." Scott tried to grab Toad, who hopped into the kitchen, snickering. He shook his head and went to his room, looking through his drawers.

"So you were out with her again last night," Rogue said, standing at his doorway.

"Save it, Toad already got to me first."

"Heeeeey, we have a big man in the house!" Kurt yelled as he teleported onto Scott's bed. His tail nearly hit Scott's lamp. "So tell us already, is she a screamer?" Kurt teleported away as Scott fired an optic blast that left a dent mark on the wall. 

"Look, if Wanda and I are doing anything, what does it matter? And where's mom?"

"She's on her way to New York, some debate or something," Rogue said absentmindedly. "I think one of Magneto's guys is speaking, so Magneto'll be there too. Did Wanda say anything?"

"Yeah, Beast is debating mutant rights. Magneto must've wanted mom to go with him. Anyway, I just stopped by for some spare clothes, Wanda and I are going to-"

"Fuck it in a bucket!" came Toad's voice from downstairs.

"Shut up!" Scott yelled. "She's got classes to teach, and she wants me to help out, since Pyro got suspended and they all have to take over for him in the meantime."

"Pyro... which one's that?" Kurt asked.

"The redhead guy, with the lighter. He's been here before, remember? He was here last Saturday when the game was on."

"Oh... him. Kook almost burned the place down."

"Yeah, so you can probably understand why he would get in trouble... any of you guys seen my comb?"

"You own a comb?" Scott groaned. He quickly found the comb, waved a quick goodbye to his siblings and left the house. "He's been getting really chummy with Magneto's herd, you notice that?"

"...Did you just call them a herd?" Rogue asked.

"If I didn't know better, I'd say he's getting ready to join himself," Kurt said, ignoring Rogue. "Can you imagine Scott teaching a bunch of kids how to use their powers?"

"Yeah, I can see it now!" Toad said, hopping next to them. "'Here's a cigarette, Amara, light it! Good, now chug this down! Ain't got nothing to do with your powers, but you should do it anyway!'"

"Hey, how do you know Amara?" Kurt asked suspiciously.

"Oh come on, Kurt, you can't hide things from us," Rogue said. "We know that little schoolgirl's been sending you notes."

"Schoolgirl crush!" Toad yelled, punctuating his statement with a quick laugh.

"It's... shut up, Toad! It's nothing serious or anything, she just thinks I'm handsome," Kurt told them. "I doubt she even means any of them!"

"So why are you so protective of those notes?" Rogue asked, raising an eyebrow and crossing her arms.

"I mean... she's still cute... and girls don't usually give me notes..."

"Bah, he's got a crush too!" Toad declared. "So when's th' wedding, monkeyboy?"

"SHUT UP!"

It seemed that two minutes couldn't go by in the Darkholme residence without that phrase being said.

-------------------------------

The debate was being held at an auditorium in New York, and given the subject, it attracted a mixed group of people. Though the organizers weren't advocates of segregation, they thought they would practice caution by having the audiences separate. At the stage stood Beast, wearing a custom-tailored brown suit and glasses, and two others who would be debating, each standing at a podium with a microphone. Directly facing them was a balding man seated at a table with his own microphone. He adjusted his glasses and checked his watch. It was time for the debate to begin. Several feet away, a techie signaled to him.

"We're on in three, two..."

"Hello and welcome to tonight's debate," the clear and deep-voiced moderator spoke into the microphone. "The subject of tonight's debate: mutants and mutant rights. Let's not waste any more time," he said impatiently, "I'm James Woodroe, your moderator for the evening. We have three guests with us tonight, speaking on behalf of mutants is Dr. Hank McCoy, an anthropologist from the University of Illinois currently working at the Xavier Institute in Bayville, New York, and a mutant himself. Thank you for being here, Dr. McCoy."

"I'm glad to be here," Beast said politely.

"Offering a moderate opinion and looking for compromise is Dr. Nathaniel Essex, a geneticist from the University of Cambridge in England. Thank you for being here, Dr. Essex."

"My pleasure," Dr. Essex calmly said with a refined British accent. Dr. Essex was a man in his early fifties with black hair that was both thinning and graying, with a gray beard and black-rimmed glasses. He had the build of a man who had done much traveling in his younger years, but had grown slightly out of shape as he settled down in age. Both Beast and Essex turned to the third speaker, a man roughly the same age as Essex, though his hair was showing more white than black. His face was clean-shaven and his eyebrows were still black, given him a slightly imposing appearance. He was dressed entirely in black, with one exception: a white collar.

"And our last speaker had to reschedule at the last minute due to family emergency, but we will make due with the replacement he hand-picked, Father William Stryker from St. Laurence's Cathedral in Donegal, Ireland. Thank you for being here, Father Stryker."

"I am sure this debate will be stimulating," Stryker said with a moderately thick Irish accent and a tone of sarcasm in his gruff voice.

"Our first question tonight," the moderator continued, "Is something that's on the mind of everyone on the planet: are mutants dangerous?"

"Mutants are no more dangerous than any human," Beast said. "Yes, some mutants have abilities that could be used against innocent people, but then, so do normal humans. Your military trains men and women in dangerous arts, some of them are lethal weapons even when unarmed, but you don't lock them away once they come back from war, you let them run free and hope that they won't use their dangerous skills against other people. Likewise, you'll have to place a certain amount of trust on mutants, and by persecuting them and treating them with fear and hatred, you can't expect them all to behave themselves, so it's really all in how they are treated. Show a mutant kindness and respect, and they will pose no threat. Show a mutant anger and brutality, and they will only show you the same in return."

"And what defense do we have against these... mutants?" Stryker said with a strong loathing tone on the last word. "An angry man can only do so much, but there are mutants who could destroy entire blocks, entire cities in their rage! Innocent people have been caught in the crossfire of every major mutant disaster, and what do you have to say to that?"

"Innocents are caught in the crossfire of every disaster, mutant or not," Dr. Essex said, but Stryker ignored him.

"And you, what are you doing sympathizing with them?" Stryker angrily said to Essex. "Don't tell me that you trust these creatures!"

"We are not creatures, Father Stryker," Beast said, remembering formality, "We are human beings, like everyone else. We didn't choose to be born this way, and we don't appreciate being treated like monsters for circumstances we had absolutely no control over."

"You are treated like monsters because you are monsters! You are not a part of God's vision, you're abominations, created by the Dark Prince to spite his mortal enemy!" The mutant crowd began to jeer and boo. There were a few growls as well.

"Father Stryker, please..." the moderator interrupted.

"Satan has nothing to do with this," Dr. Essex said, and his voice showed how ridiculous he thought the accusation was, "Many geneticists, myself included, believe that this mutation was caused by an acceleration of evolution, that-"

"Don't talk to me of evolution!" Stryker yelled, his face red with fury. 

"Father Stryker," Beast elaborated, "Evolution is the only explanat-"

"You hide behind your science, afraid to face proper accusation! Next you'll tell me that my father was an ape! Some word, coming from you!"

"He hasn't said-"

"You stay out of this!" he said to Dr. Essex. "You disgust me even more than this... this... MONSTER! You're a human being, yet you decide to side with these demons, fooled by their lies, and you wish to treat them as equals? You're a lunatic, Essex, I don't know why I'm even talking to you!"

"Father Stryker, please-"

"Wastes, all of you! I won't waste any more time trying to convince a monster and this biased traitor that the Lord does not recognize mutants as his creatures, let alone equal to his greatest creation!" Ignoring the moderator's attempts to keep the debate organized, Stryker angrily left his podium and walked out of the auditorium.

"Dr. McCoy, I'm sorry-"

"No need to apologize, Dr. Essex," Beast said. "I run into fanatics like him every day. When you look like me, it's hard to go anywhere without hearing it. The greatest weapon for any mutant isn't his powers, it's his patience." 

"Unfortunately, this debate will have to be cut short..." the moderator made excuses as the audience started to leave. The mutants and humans kept away from each other as they headed for the doors. Among the mutant crowd, three remained seated.

"This Stryker can't continue with his anti-mutant rhetoric," Mystique said. Her skin had been shifted to a more normal color as a precaution. Magneto appeared human enough, but kept his hat on in-doors.

"Indeed. I understand he has powerful connections both inside and outside of the Catholic Church."

"If he does, he's more dangerous than we thought. Magneto, if he were to have a little accident, it would work in our favor."

"Yes... I feel no sympathy for the priest. Eliminating him would be beneficial to us."

"Agreed," said their associate, a man with short blonde hair and a heavy brown coat. He was Warren Worthington, a mutant like the others, but he had inherited great wealth from his human parents. He owned a powerful company based in New York, and secretly leaked funds to the Xavier Institute. Warren was among Magneto's first students, helping him accept his mutation as a blessing and a gift. Warren was calm and mature, but he wasn't as tolerant of human beings as his fellow Xavier graduates. "Magneto, I'd like to repay you."

"Repay me? But you've done so much."

"Yes, but you gave me confidence, none of my fortune could've done that. I'll take Stryker down. Personally."

"Be careful, Warren," Mystique warned him. "He'll have protection. A maniac like him would probably expect a few attempts on his life."

"I will be, Raven. I was going to Ireland on a business trip anyway." They all nodded to each other, got up, and left through different exits.

-------------------------------

"No, get down from there! Are you... no, stop that! ARGH!" Scott yelled in frustration. He stood with Wanda in a large metal room lined with desks, but very few of them were occupied. There were several young mutants running around ranging from twelve to seventeen, more than could fit in the desks and all of them out of control. "I am this close to just zapping them!"

"Be a little patient, Scott," Wanda said. "I'll show you how it's done." Wanda beckoned one of the students, a young red-haired girl, to the front of the class. Wanda smiled and stood back. Within moments, the rest of the class was clutching their ears, trying in vain to shield themselves from the high-pitched, painful scream from the red-haired girl. Wanda motioned for her to stop, and all eyes were on her.

"Your attention please," Wanda said, as if there had been nothing strange right before, "I know that the class is a little larger than usual, so we're going to try something different until we can get everything straightened out. There aren't enough desks for everyone, so we'll be taking the class outside today." The entire class erupted into a mix of cheers and loud conversation. Wanda motioned towards the red-haired girl, and the room went silent. "This is Scott Darkholme, he will be assisting me today. Now, follow us, single file..." Wanda and Scott led the class into the hall and up the stairs to the main chamber of the Xavier Institute, where Pyro sat, still out of uniform, making a fiery tiger jump through a fiery hoop. He waved to them, and a third of the group, obviously his students, waved back.

"When will you be back, Pyro?" a young child in a black bodysuit asked. As far as anyone could tell, the boy was made entirely out of gas, and had to wear the suit to retain his human shape. 

"Just until next week, I'm takin' a little break," Pyro said. The fiery tiger became a fiery hand and waved at the rest of the students. The exterior of the Xavier Institute was a sharp contrast to the main building: where the Institute itself was metal with few organic materials, the exterior was natural and green, with flowing grass fields and groups of trees in various area. There was a cliff towards one side of the grounds overlooking the ocean, but Wanda led the class in the opposite direction and stopped next to a group of trees.

"Today's lesson: getting past aggressive obstacles. Scott can fire energy from his eyes, and like many of you, he is unable to control his power, which is why he wears a set of protective glasses. Don't be fooled; he can't stop his blasts, but he has pretty good aim. You'll each have a turn trying to get from here to that tree," Wanda pointed to a tree with a white line painted on its trunk, "Without getting hit. Any questions? Yes?"

"Can we attack Scott?" a girl with blonde hair asked.

"Er... no," she said. Scott had been shaking his head. "You're up first. Go!" The blonde girl ran at Scott in a zig-zag pattern. Scott grinned and fired at her, but she was moving too fast. Finally, he managed to hit her right in the chest. She dropped to the grass, flimsy and lifeless.

"What?!" Scott looked down at the girl, only she wasn't there, just her skin. "I..."

"Got it!" she yelled from the goal tree. She had become a fine mist, but still retained her human appearance. Scott looked back and forth at the girl's skin and at the mist, stupefied. As he scratched his head, he noticed the girl walk past him to the group, now normal once more.

"Go!" Wanda said to the next student, a young African-American boy wearing a black braid on the back of his neck. He ran straight at Scott, not bothering to distract him with his movements. Scott fired, but the boy held out his hand as he ran and the blast was drawn in. Scott kept firing, but the boy just kept absorbing the energy. By the time he reached the tree, his hands were glowing purple.

"Good work," Wanda said.

"Can I release it real quick?" the boy asked. Wanda nodded and the boy aimed his hands at the sky and unleashed a rippling beam of purple energy. When he was done, he appeared more relaxed, and rejoined the group. Most of the students were getting past Scott without much trouble, but he allowed himself a grin every time he took one down. One had tried to get past by confusing Scott with random words in various languages, but it had obviously failed. One had tried shocking Scott by transforming into some kind of zombie, but Scott wasn't easily impressed. One boy carrying two maggot-like creatures on him hadn't even tried.

"I think that's everyone," Wanda said, but mainly to Scott. "Alright. Once the classes are back to normal, we'll resume training with underwater chambers. I believe Pyro is planning a lesson on aerial attacks. Class dismissed!" The students ran wild, some of them starting to play outside, some returning inside. Scott wiped some dust from his jacket and walked back towards the Institute with Wanda. 

"Your kids are good," he said. "I almost didn't have to let them win."

"Sure," Wanda said with a grin. "You just don't have much training yourself. Why didn't you guys ever come to the Institute?"

"Magneto wanted us to, but mom said she wanted us to have normal lives." Scott looked at a group of younger kids playing tag. "Sometimes I wish we had come."

"It wasn't always this full. My father's first class only had five students. Out of them, only Hank and Warren stayed to teach my class, and once we were finished, only Hank was left. My class... it was a little larger before. When we graduated, Jean, Freddy, Pietro, John and I were the only ones who stayed."

"So you're going to stay here and teach?"

"For now," Wanda replied. "We don't want to be here forever, but we want to help the next generation out. Pietro's the only one who's not teaching, the rest of us all have plans for the future. Freddy tells me he wants to open a book store."

"Is that all he does?"

"Just about. He spends most of his free time just reading and re-reading old books."

"And what do you do with your free time?" Scott asked.

"I don't know," Wanda said, a grin appearing on her face. "I'm thinking I might go out with someone later, if he's not too busy."

"WANDA, GET OVER HERE!" Jean yelled from the back door of the Institute. Slightly annoyed but realizing the severity of Jean's voice, Wanda and Scott ran inside. Several students were crowded around something near the right wall, but Wanda couldn't see what it was. She asked for the students to let her through, but nobody did. She waved her hands and they were pushed away, and she went to see what was the matter.

"She's not responding," Freddy said, kneeling over young Amara Aquila, a more recent recruit with tanned skin and long brown hair. She was on the floor, wearing the typical black uniform worn by all recruits, but she wasn't breathing, and her wide brown eyes were open and staring at the ceiling. "No breathing, no pulse... Wanda, this doesn't look good."

"What happened?"

"It's too long to explain, we have to do this first."

"We'll try CPR, then," Wanda said. She tilted Amara's head back and pinched her nose, then breathed into her mouth. Nothing happened. She then placed her hands on Amara's chest and tried forcing a heartbeat, but still nothing happened.

"You're doing it all wrong, let me show you!" Pyro said. Wanda moved aside and Pyro kneeled to inspect Amara. "Okay, here goes." Pyro moved in and proceeded to force air into Amara's lungs. He hadn't even finished a single breath when Amara suddenly jolted to life, coughing and gasp for air. "Now, now, careful there... take a deep breath..." Amara followed Pyro's advice and inhaled. He helped her sit up and helped her against the wall. "There. You feeling all better?"

"Yes..." Amara cleared her throat. "Thanks to you."

"It was nothing, luv, just doing my job!" Pyro said with a modest grin. Amara kept looking at him with her deep brown eyes. Nearby, another student, Danielle Moonstar, rolled her eyes and gave Amara a hateful glare. She wore her black hair in a long braid behind her. 

"Crisis averted, you can all go back to your tasks," Wanda said to the students, who soon dispersed. "Now what happened here?"

"It was me," Danielle told them. She didn't seem all that guilty, though. "I... went into her head and... I'm really not sure what I did... but it shut her brain down, or something. I'm sorry."

"Looks like you shocked her brain into a shutdown," Jean said, looking into Amara's mind. "What were you thinking?!"

"Well we were having an argument... over a boy... I didn't mean to..."

"Oh," Jean said, both angry and disgusted. "Over a boy. You can't just go shutting everyone's brain down, you know! Amara could've died, would you want to be responsible for that?! How could you be so stupid?!"

"Calm down, she's sorry," Freddy said to Jean. 

"Magneto's too easy on these kids," Jean said to him. 

"Back to your task," Wanda told Danielle before Jean could yell at her any more. "Jean, what's the matter with you?"

"These accidents keep happening more often, these stupid kids aren't learning anything! We're busting our asses here trying to help them and they pull this shit on us!"

"Jean, don't stress yourself out over the kids," Freddy said to her calmly. "Come on, I'll draw you a bath." Jean sighed, then reluctantly nodded. As Freddy led her away, Pyro helped Amara to her feet. Only Scott and Wanda were left.

"Your suspension isn't making this class size any smaller, you know," Wanda said.

"Hey, I didn't suspend myself, you did. Orders are orders, and we got a week left." Pyro took out his lighter and flicked the cover open and quickly closed it, back and forth. "Jean's wrong, though. What these kids need is more time to be kids, ain't that right, luv?"

"Yes," Amara said shyly. She blushed when Pyro called her 'luv', not quite realizing how casually he meant that.

"Gotta enjoy ourselves while we're young. On that note, I hear Colossus is fighting again tonight, wanna grab some drinks tonight, Darkholme?"

"No," Wanda pointedly said. Scott grinned and shrugged.

"Oh... aww, haha! You better be careful, Darkholme, you don't want her daddy knocking on your door! C'mon, Amara, you need some rest, better get you back to the dormitory..."

-------------------------------

Father Stryker returned to Donegal the following night, and after greeting his supporters at the airport, he immediately returned to St. Laurence's Cathedral to get back to work. The cathedral was the only place where Stryker felt safe, and he didn't like being away from the cathedral for long, for any reason, but especially not for pointless debates. He knew that he was slowly gaining support internationally, but he wasn't terribly interested in matters outside his country.

Stryker opened the massive wooden doors to the cathedral. The interior was quite spacious, with every sound made producing a large echo. There were rows and rows of pews, almost twice as many as an ordinary church, and the glass windows were adorned with images of the many Saints of Ireland. At the altar was a crucifix, with an almost life-like representation of Christ nailed to it. All of this was ordinary to Stryker, but he gasped at the state of the church that night.

Several pews had been destroyed, splintered wood thrown everywhere, blood stains on the floor and the stone pillars supporting the ceiling, stakes made of bone pinned against the floor and walls. There were four bodies on the floor and at the altar, kneeling before Christ, a thin man with an executioner's hood over his head.

"You!" Stryker yelled furiously. "What have you done here?! You dare shed blood in this church? You dare sin as our Lord watches you from the altar? You've murdered innocents tonight, and you dare kneel before the Lord in prayer?!"

"These are not innocents, father," the hooded man replied in a raspy, tired voice. "The one with sunglasses." Stryker looked confused. "The spikes were his... I let him and one more escape. I am sorry."

"And the others?! What of them?!" Stryker yelled.

"They were all like him. They paid for their sins with their lives. Now the Lord will punish them as he sees fit." The hooded man stood up and faced Stryker so that he could now see the white cross on the hood's forehead. "Is this not what you wanted?"

"I appreciate your concern, but I would rather you not shed blood in this church. The Lord will forgive you, you have carried out his will, my son."

"I only seek to destroy them, as He intends." Stryker placed a sympathetic hand on the hooded man's shoulder. He was a head taller than Stryker, and the blue eyes inside his hood were tired, angry, and satisfied all at once. 

A sound from above startled Stryker. "I believe you missed one." The hooded man drew a pair of knives and looked towards the ceiling.

"No. He just entered," he told Stryker. The hooded man threw his blade at the ceiling, but missed his target. A winged man, wearing red, descended towards them, his wings flapping magnificently like that of a large dove.

"...An angel..." Stryker muttered. "What... what is happening? Why..."

"I'm no angel," Warren Worthington said to him. "I am a mutant."

"You..." Stryker's face was red with fury. "YOU MOCK THE HEAVENLY FATHER WITH YOUR DEMON WINGS! Send him to his fate!" Stryker commanded. Warren drew his weapon, a pistol concealed in his costume, and fired. Stryker was pushed aside by the hooded man, who also managed to avoid the bullet. The hooded man threw a knife at Warren, who avoided it easily, and took another weapon, a semi-automatic, and fired. Bulletholes lined the floor as the hooded man ran to avoid the gunfire and took a small gray capsule from his belt, then threw it in the air. One of the bullets collided with it and the capsule exploded in a brilliant flash of white light. Blinded, Warren dropped to the ground, disoriented. The hooded man now carried a large polearm with a knife at the end and ran to Warren with his weapon raised. 

Warren quickly grabbed a large candle holder and blocked the blade, but the hooded man attacked again so quickly that Warren didn't have time to attack himself. Realizing that he was concentrating on the candle holder, Warren swept the hooded man's feet and tripped him. Once he was down, he raised the candle holder, but the hooded man rolled out of the way and threw a knife at Warren's right wing.

"Argh!" Warren tucked his wings behind him and ran behind a stone column.

"You cannot hide from me," the hooded man said. "Face your fate, mutant." Warren had managed to sneak in between a row of pews without showing himself, evident by Stryker's constant "where is he?!" and the hooded man's distraction, changing weapons on his belt. Without warning, something flew into the row of pews and exploded, generating just enough force to get Warren out into the aisle. The hooded man aimed a gun at him.

"Wha-?"

The gun fired a red pulse of some sort, which knocked Warren out of a glass window. The hooded man holstered his gun and stood up.

"He got away!" Stryker yelled.

"Yes, but he didn't get what he came for." The hooded man held out a vial of poison he had taken from Warren during the fight. "He was after you."

"I knew this would happen."

"I will remain here to protect you."

"No, I have contacts... they'll protect me. I should've accepted their offer sooner." Stryker looked at the hooded man's gun. "What sort of weapons are you carrying?"

"Advanced technology, devised by humans. No mutant has withstood these weapons."

"This has gone far enough. I need you to do a job, my son."

"I am at your service," the hooded man said.

"There's a school in America I want you to visit."

-------------------------------

Magneto didn't return to the Xavier Institute until the late hours, after a brief trip to California on... unofficial business. He walked up the metal steps into the Institute and with his magnetic abilities, opened the door. Everything seemed to be in order, no major disasters. However, Pietro was there, in his pajamas, waiting for him with a look of terror on his face.

"What's wrong?" Magneto asked.

"Some snuck in..." Pietro said, still in shock. "He... he..."

"Daddy!" Wanda cried from the hallway, still in her nightgown and carrying one of the younger students in her arms. "Someone came, he got in..."

"Yes, Pietro told me... what happened?" Magneto looked at the girl in Wanda's arms. "Is she alright?"

"She's dead... they..."

"Out of my way!" Magneto said and hurried down the hall. The entrance chamber had been in order, but now he saw what had his children in shock. The hallway was lined with bodies of students, blood smeared along the wall, as well as scorch marks and bits of melted metal here and there. Freddy was examining them, dressed in a robe. "What happened?!"

"Someone broke in, a human, wearing a hood with a cross on it," Freddy told him. There was panic in his voice, but he tried to remain calm. "We couldn't stop him... he had weapons we've never seen before. He went right for the kids..." Freddy closed the eyes of a young boy and tears rolled down his cheeks. "We couldn't stop him... we couldn't use our powers, none of us... Wanda finally managed to deactivate his weapons long enough for Beast to tackle him, but then he disappeared... teleported."

"But you said he was a human," Magneto said, likewise trying to stay calm.

"He was, the sensors said he was human, but he had those weapons..."

"Are any students still alive?"

"Yeah, there's a few he didn't get to," Jean said, also wearing her robe and walking out of a room where more dead students laid. "Pyro and Hank took them to the Danger Room."

"Dorian's alive!" Freddy yelled in victory. "Bleeding badly, but he's alive! Gotta get him to the infirmary..." Magneto stepped aside as Freddy rushed past him. Magneto was startled by the phone ringing in his coat. Not quite in the mood for conversation but nonetheless knowing that he only gave the number to important people, he answered.

"What is it?"

"Magneto," Warren said on the other side. "I'm in Ireland. It didn't go as planned. Stryker had a bodyguard, and by the looks of it, there was somebody else after him, but he took them all down. I heard Stryker tell him to go over there before I lost consciousness behind the church... that was about two hours ago, so watch out."

"One bodyguard?"

"Yeah, just one guy... he used some sort of high-tech weapons..." Magneto felt the blood drain from his face as he realized something. 

"Warren, what did this bodyguard look like?"

"He..." Warren paused, sensing the nervousness in Magneto's voice. "Was wearing a hood, with a cross on it... I didn't get a good look at the rest of him. You'll know him when you see him."

"Warren... he was already here."

"What?! No, that's impossible..."

"He teleported here. I arrived after he had left. Most of the students are dead."

"What? No, how could this be? He was just here!"

"He's a human, no mutant can teleport that distance in such a short time. He has access to advanced technology... Warren, Stryker is more dangerous than we realized."

"No, Stryker's not behind him... Stryker was impressed by his little massacre here, so he asked him to go over there, that's how I saw it, at least... someone else has to be supplying him with this stuff... I better let you go, I'll be over there as soon as possible. Don't worry, I'll tell Ororo and Callisto." Storm and Callisto, along with Warren and Beast, were among Magneto's original students. "Hank, is he?"

"He's fine, so are the other instructors. This murderer was only after the more defenseless students. Coward!" Magneto crushed the phone into a tiny metal ball in anger before he could stop himself and let it drop to the floor. He stepped into one of the classrooms where several more students lay dead. On the wall, written with their blood, was a message:

THEY WILL FIND THEIR FATE IN A HIGHER COURT

"Check and double-check the students," Magneto ordered his team. "I will see to the survivors in the Danger Room. Inform me if any students are found alive." Without another word, Magneto walked down the hall. Though his body was calm, ripples were appearing along the metal walls, slowly warping them out of shape. Jean checked another student on the floor, and finding no life-signs, she moved on to the girl next to him.

-------------------------------

"...a horrific sixty-six mutants killed at the Xavier Institute in the early hours," the news anchor reported. The Darkholmes gathered around the television in the morning, watching early news reports. Mystique had already been told by Magneto, and she in turn had already told her children, but they watched nonetheless. "The murderer was well-armed, eyewitnesses say, to take down mutants. Though there is no physical evidence, many now believe that this X-Cutioner was also behind the horrible Morlock massacre three days ago. Again, the X-Cutioner wore a black hood with a white cross on it, and survivors claim he chanted prayers during the attack..."

"Can you believe this?!" Kurt yelled in anger. "'X-Cutioner,' do they think that's cute?!"

"We have more important things to worry about," Mystique said to her children. "This murderer is after mutants. If the Xavier Institute wasn't safe for them, then any mutant is fair game. We're going to have to be on our guard."

Yeah, you weren't expecting that so early in the story, were you? Anyway, we've got the X-Cutioner running around now. For the record, no, this is not Carl Denti, and no, he will not be an FBI agent. About the only thing this guy has in common with the original X-Cutioner is the name and basic appearance... oh, and access to advanced technology. So where is the X-Cutioner getting these weapons? Who did survive the massacre?

AND NO, DR. ESSEX WILL NOT BECOME MR. SINISTER. 


	3. The Aftermath and the Search

Hey hey, more stuff! Oh, and excuse the grammar.

****

Chapter Three - The Aftermath and the Search

Warren Worthington sat in his bedroom in his penthouse at the top of Worthington Towers, holding a cell phone to his ear while a hired servant tended the wound on his wing.

"Argh... careful!"

"Sorry," Kate Pryde said. "I won't do it again..."

"It's okay, Pryde, just... just be careful." Kate wore a black dress that appeared very similar to a maid's dress, but her brown hair flowed freely past her shoulders. She wore a pair of surgical gloves and swabbed cotton doused with antiseptic on Warren's wing. He could tolerate the pain, but every so often, Kate would press the cotton a little too hard. Though not necessarily a maid, Kate was a pupil of Warren's. He preferred to help younger mutants on a more personal basis, rather than in groups as Magneto did, and so he had only three students with him, staying with him under the premise of being hired servants. Not that this stopped him from giving them orders. Kate was shy and reclusive, and tended to be overly apologetic. "She's still not answering?"

"No... it's not like her at all... she couldn't still be mad?"

"Maybe she turned it off," Kate suggested. ."

"Stryker's on TV again," Lance Alvers said, walking into the bedroom from the living room, where had had been watching CNN. Lance wore black dress pants, a white shirt, and a black vest, and his hair was longer than standard for a servant, but neat and combed. He was an even-tempered boy, though he had a tendency for irresponsibility and sometimes neglected the consequences of his actions. A childhood friend of Kate's, he was the only person she didn't act shy around.

"Let's see what he has to say." Warren turned on the plasma screen in his bedroom.

"I was attacked last night by those monsters. A good Christian helped me chase off the cowards, but they were there to kill me." Stryker was in Donegal, speaking to the anchor via satellite. "If I were wrong about them, why would they consider me a threat? They wanted to silence me, they knew I was right about them, and they won't stop with me. Every decent, honest person on this planet will be on their list and they won't stop until everyone is like them!"

"With all due respect, Father Stryker," the anchor countered, "It has been proven that anyone confirmed as a human cannot be turned into a mutant. You're one or the other."

"You can become one of them!" Stryker insisted. "Their weapons of choice are not their powers, they are hate, fear, deceit-"

"Father Stryker, it's perfectly logical that a radical group of mutants wanted to kill you out of frustration over these accusations-"

"You talk about them as if they understand logic! These are NOT men, they are monsters! They live only to spread evil-"

"I'm sorry, we're out of time. Father Stryker, thank you for being with us-"

"And now you're trying to silence me! You're one of them, aren't you?! YOU WON'T-" a commercial for cereal abruptly cut in. Warren turned the television off.

"It doesn't look like they're taking him seriously," Lance said.

"No, the liberals aren't, but the conservatives are eating it all up. Lynching in the South increased drastically when he started his campaign." Warren dialed again. "Come on, Callisto, don't be like this..."

"Maybe you should call Magneto and see if anything else has happened," Kate suggested.

"Yeah... I'd better just check in and worry about Callisto later... argh, I said to be careful!" 

"...I'm sorry." Warren dialed another number. "Magneto... I talked to Ororo, but Callisto's not answering. Yeah. Ororo said one of her employees went missing, too. Thirty-two of them you say? Well... better than none. You told Raven already? Alright. I'm going to try Callisto again, I'll get back to you." 

"Boss, mind if we knock off early tonight?"

"I do, Alvers. I want you two to stay here on and off duty until further notice. Call Drake and tell him the same." Warren walked up to the large window and looked at the city below. "Things are getting weird around here. This mutant hunter will be looking for you."

-------------------------------

Callisto stood in the town square of a city in Northern California with a megaphone and a group of several mutants, all chained to a statue of the city's founder as police barricades kept anti-mutant protestors away from them. The humans carried picket signs with such phrases as "MUTIE GET OUT" and "ALL MEN CREATED EQUAL- NOT MUTANTS" and the ever-popular "MUTANTS SUCK." Callisto knew that mutants had a legal right to non-aggressive demonstration and protection under the police, even if a few of the officers would rather remove those barricades.

"We don't want to dominate normal humans, we only want to be treated as equals!" Callisto said into the megaphone. Callisto looked the most normal out of all the mutant demonstrators, and even a few of the mutants had to admit that she was attractive. Her black hair flowed down to her back and she wore a blue headband, a white t-shirt one size too large for her with a brown vest over it, and a regular pair of jeans. Despite her beauty, Callisto's face was slightly disfigured; she had lost her right eye in a vicious fight, which she later replaced with a mechanical eye that couldn't allow her to see, but moved in tune with her remaining eye to give the impression of two normal eyes. A tiny, almost invisible scar ran down from her right eye towards her ear, stopping halfway. The day she lost her eye, the fight had been about acceptance. Ten years later, she was fighting the same battle. "We don't wish harm on anybody. All we ask for is equality, and we will not move from this spot until the city gives mutants equal rights."

"Hey, I got a power, too!" a human yelled. "I can see through lies!" He hurled a tomato at a young girl near Callisto. She was Torpid, one of the three survivors of the Morlock massacre. With Magneto's help, Callisto had found them, scared and confused, and took them in. She wiped the tomato off Torpid's shirt and lifted her up onto her shoulders.

"This little girl is one of the survivors of the massacre in the sewers. She lived there in fear of people who didn't understand her, who refused to understand her, and now her home is gone." Below them, the other two Morlock survivors, Berzerker and a black-haired girl called Scaleface nodded. They had been given normal clothes in blue and red, respectively, and like Callisto, they were chained to the statue. Scaleface was not an ugly girl, but she looked as if she had never slept a day in here life. They were joined by another girl, Jubilation Lee, whose name was often shortened to Jubilee. It was a pun she rather enjoyed, as he mutant abilities produced energy blasts similar to fireworks. Jubilee was one of Callisto's young assistants at the boarding house for mutants she ran and wore her black hair short and was never seen without her yellow and pink-trimmed coat. "This little girl was nearly killed by hatred, and many of her friends weren't so lucky. How would all of you feel if you knew that your mutant hunting crews were taking the lives of children?"

"Excuse me, Callisto," Jubilee said to her, holding out a cell phone. "You have a phone call." 

"It's not Warren, is it?" Jubilee shook her head. "Thank you, Jubilee. Yes? What... What?" Callisto sounded quite surprised. "Mr. Lehnsherr said that... very well. Thank you." Callisto tossed the phone back to Jubilee. "We're going to have to cut this protest short. There's a problem with Arkady."

"What is it?"

"I'll tell you later. If they overhear me, it might encourage them." After Callisto had unchained herself and the others, the police cleared a path for them to leave.

-------------------------------

"Fucking tragedy, man," Pyro said to Freddy as they cleaned the hallway. Pyro took a young cat-like boy from the floor and placed him inside a body bag. "We really should've been able to handle this... we've been training for years."

"We weren't trained for this. I don't think even Magneto could have taken this guy."

"He got you, didn't he?" Freddy nodded and pulled up his shirt, revealing a large scar across his stomach. "So you had the same problem, too. I couldn't work my fire when he was around."

"I could barely stand up around him. I didn't have enough strength to support my own weight. He had to have been a mutant, that's the only way."

"No, I've heard of this before," Pyro told him as he did a final check on the cat-like boy to see if there were possibly any life signs they may not have noticed before. "Darkholme was telling me that his mum was working as a mercenary a few years back and she ran into some rich guy who had a huge machine that could do that. Walking around dressed like his security guys, and then bam, she's herself again and her cover's blown."

"He didn't have any huge machine with him, though. He couldn't have hidden anything like that on his costume."

"No, but that was some years back, maybe they made a smaller one now. They do it all the time with computers."

"Could be... I still say the guy had to have been a mutant. It makes more sense that he was carrying something on him that cloaked him from our sensors than carrying around something just to cancel out our powers. Dorian's got powers like that, it's not so unrealistic to think that maybe there's another mutant like him somewhere." Freddy finished writing a name tag and attached it to the zipper of the bag before zipping it all up. As he did so, Pyro placed his hand on his forehead, then his chest, then his left and right shoulders. "Heh, I didn't know you were religious."

"I'm not... well, not really. Baptized a Catholic, but it's not like I'm real strict about it, but after all that just happened here, I think I at least owe these kids a quick prayer."

"So how do you feel about Father Stryker?"

"Hate him. I wish he could really meet God just so the big man can tell him how much of an asshole he is and put him in his place. Makes the rest of us look bad... not that I'm real devout or anything." Freddy nodded and checked the life signs of another student. 

"Stryker ordered all of this," Pietro said as he stood at the doorway. 

"...What?!"

"My father was telling me about it," Pietro explained as he examined a third student, then started writing their name on a tag. "His old friend Angel was going to pay Stryker a little visit- why, he wouldn't tell me- and that bastard who did this was working for him." Without warning, Freddy slammed his fist into the wall, bending it and leaving an imprint of his fist. 

"Yeah, I know what you mean," Pyro said to his large friend. "His little campaign is one thing, but this is too much! I'm going to have a talk with Magneto, we're gonna have to put him in his place!"

"No, hold on a second!" Pietro sped to the door to block it. "I'm not happy with this either, but if he's got that guy working for him, we're not getting much farther than these kids! My father's working on it, but right now, there's not much we can do about it." Pietro saw the body that Freddy and Pyro had gone back to checking. Once Pyro had checked all life signs and confirmed the death, Freddy took the dagger buried in the girl's chest and looked at it.

"Some weapons this guy was using."

"Wait a second, let me see that." Pietro took it and held it up. "...Might be useful. I'll take it to Magneto, see if this helps out any. Thanks guys. I've got to check the security systems and see what it was that let him sneak in like that. I'll keep you guys posted if I find out anything." Pietro stopped at the door. "...And don't tell Magneto that I told you all that." He walked out.

"Better not tell your girl about it, either," Pyro said to Freddy. "I don't need loose objects clocking me on the head again."

"I'll be sure not to be too blunt about it." Freddy had a way of talking to Jean, who struck fear in the others because of her attitude which, combined with her powers, made her unpleasant when angry, to say the least. "This is going to be a PR nightmare. Bad press, lawsuits... I hope Wanda's ready for all this."

"Bah, she's ready to take on the human race with just a fork and a knife. She can handle this." Pyro zipped another bag and once more made the sign of the cross. "Hope these kids find their way."

-------------------------------

Evan walked through the dark hall of an apartment building with Gambit. They had traveled all the way to New Jersey on... business, running an errand for Storm. They had finished their minor job and decided that while they were there, they would take care of another small errand. Evan kept his sunglasses on even in the dark and wore a raincoat, as did Gambit. Evan stopped at a door with "F3."

"This it?" Evan asked. Gambit held up a small shred of paper and charged it with his mutant power. Lit, they could clearly see "F3" written on the paper. Gambit let the paper slip and the energy quickly consumed it, leaving no evidence except a smile cloud of ash. Evan knocked on the door and stood directly in front of the eyehole.

"Just a minute," the female voice inside called. Evan had seen the eyehole darken briefly, so she had already checked. The door opened and they were met by Tabitha Smith, a young blonde-haired woman wearing a gray t-shirt and jeans. Her hair went down to her back, with some of it hanging down to her chest. "What can I do for you boys?"

"Aren't you going to invite us in?" Gambit asked with a sly grin and a half-wink.

"Oh, where are my manners? Come in, come in. Don't mind the mess..." Clothes were thrown around Tabitha's tiny apartment, covering her couch and the small table she used for dining. "Anything I can get for you?"

"But of cour-" Gambit was stopped by Evan, who smacked him upside the head while keeping his eyes on Tabitha.

"This isn't a social call, we're here on business."

"Listen, Evan, if it's about two weeks ago, I can get her the money by Thursday, I swear!"

"She doesn't care about that anymore. We've moved on to bigger things. I had a team of mutants up until two days ago. We were sent to assassinate someone, but they're... missing in action."

"I see..." Tabitha said with some concern.

"I'm recruiting, Tabitha. I'm getting a new team together to finish the job."

"...And you want me to help you?"

"Yes." Evan wasted no time getting to the point. He didn't have the sweet-talking abilities of his aunt, but his stern realism was just as effective. "If we complete this job, all debts will be cleared and you'll be free of any further obligation."

"Is that so?" Tabitha asked hopefully. "Wait... what's the catch? Who's the target?"

"William Stryker." Tabitha felt shivers down her back. She quickly got up.

"You know, I've been busy around here, I've got so many projects going on, I don't know if-"

"You don't have a choice, Tabitha. Having your debts cleared isn't your reward, it's a gift. My aunt is a kind woman, you know. Either way you look at it, whether we take him out or not, you won't owe her anything ever again. If you don't agree to this..." Evan produced a bone-spike from his palm and held it inches from her face.

"I... well... since I don't have a choice."

"Aw, it won't be so bad," Gambit said to her. "You've got me on the team..." Gambit looked Tabitha over, admiring her curves, "...and I'm definitely looking forward to working with you."

"Enough, we can't waste any time," Evan said. "You'll meet us tomorrow morning at six in New York. You know where to find us." Evan got up, followed by Gambit, who gave Tabitha one last wink before they walked out.

"Looks like this job's gotten spicier," Gambit said to Evan as they walked down the stairs. 

"Eh, she's not my type. I prefer clean women."

"Oh... she?"

"No, substance abuse. She's been doing some small-time dealing for my aunt around here and she's become addicted to the stuff herself. Come on, we've got one more place to hit." Back in her apartment, Tabitha sighed and threw herself onto the couch. Looking for some quick relief to her sudden stress, she took a tiny bottle from the pocket of a jacket lying on the floor, filled with a blue-gray liquid. She stuck a needle through the lid and drained the bottle. Moments later, her eyes rolled into the back of her head for a second, and she fell back down on the couch, her tension eased and glazed smile on her face.

"Ah... legacy, you'll always be my friend..."

-------------------------------

"What do you mean he's missing?" Callisto asked. She had returned to the West Park Boarding House, which was secretly a shelter for mutants, much like the Xavier Institute, but on a smaller scale. Sam Guthrie stood at the doorway of a room that had been trashed. There were clearly signs of a struggle, with marks on the wall in the shape of thick cords. Someone had been whipping around metallic tentacles in the fight, and whoever had broken in had come through the window. 

"He was here, then he started yellin' at someone," Sam explained with his thick Southern accent, "And then he screamed. I checked on him, and I found the room like this. Looks a lot like an abduction if you ask me." Sam was tall and lanky with messy blonde hair. He was dressed in clothing about two sizes too large for him, giving him a slightly comical appearance.

"Arkady can take care of himself. He was trained for this sort of thing... but who would want to take him?"

"Maybe the Russians wanted him back."

"Doubtful, the Soviet Union fell years ago. Still, I think Magneto should hear about this." Callisto reached into her vest for her cell phone, but it began to ring. Cautiously, she checked the screen. "Argh, it's Warren again. Jubilee, could you get this and tell him I'm still not talking to him?"

"Fine." Jubilee took the phone. "Hello? Oh, hi, Mr. Worthington. Oh? Sorry, Callisto is still not talking to you. What do you mean why?"

"Gimme that!" Callisto yelled. "You expect me to believe that you have absolutely no idea why I'm not talking to you?! You have some nerve, Worthington! Good... what? Oh... my... yes... yes, thank you, Warren..." Callisto hung up and put the phone away. "The students at the Xavier Institute..."

-------------------------------

Magneto was now dressed in his uniform and stood at a communications console in the Danger Room control room with his cell phone plugged in to a device near a speaker. The control room was a balcony overlooking the Danger Room, high enough that none of the equipment could reach it on its own, but there was still a low-level shield around it just in case. Below, Beast and Freddy talked with the six remaining students, which included Amara Aquila, Danielle Moonstar, Rahne Sinclair, Roberto DaCosta, Dorian Leech, and Jamie Madrox, all of whom were still frightened. Jamie couldn't even speak. Pietro walked into the balcony carrying a bloody dagger.

"Arkady's disappearance is indeed puzzling," Magneto said, speaking to Callisto via phone. 

"We can't get involved in this, but I'd appreciate any information."

"If any of my contacts see so much as a hair belonging to him, I will tell you."

"Thank you, Magneto." Callisto hung up and Magneto turned to his son and the knife he held.

"Evidence?" Magneto asked.

"I found it in the east corridor." Magneto pulled the dagger from Pietro's hands and levitated it before his eyes. The blade itself was made of highly-polished silver, and the handle wrapped in leather. "Yeah, it looks like a regular dagger, but Danielle said it launched itself, and these daggers seemed to go right for the kids."

"Then we'll just have to unlock its secrets." The blade and handle were pulled apart and Pietro quickly unwrapped the leather bindings. Magneto then twisted the handle open to reveal a complex miniature device inside. He brought it close to him to examine it.

"So what is it?"

"A mutant tracking device... it basically works the same way that our mutant detection system does."

"Whoa, wait a minute, so this is a pint-sized version of the stuff we have?"

"Exactly."

"Then... but... he disappeared months ago... but why would he...?"

"He wouldn't. He must have been abducted and forced by these mutant hunters. This is all beginning to make sense. Pietro, get Jean to Cerebro." Magneto left the control room without another word.

"Wait," Pietro said. Magneto stopped in the hallway and turned to him. "I just... this is just so big..."

"And you want someone to talk to about it," Magneto said, understanding but not yielding. "Pietro, I wish I had time for that, but at the moment, we have to make use of every minute we have." He walked back in and placed a hand on Pietro's shoulder. "I know this is difficult for you."

"I just wish mom were still here. She always made us feel better, even at the worst times..."

"I understand. I miss her as much as you do, Pietro. Get some rest, Pietro. I'll get Jean to Cerebro."

"No, I can handle it." Pietro's tone changed. He was determined to show strength and hide his weakness, like his father did. "I'll meet you there." Pietro ran down the hall. Magneto took a moment to remember his wife. Kind, gentle, compassionate...

But he had no time for that. Magneto left the control room in a hurry.

Who is Magneto looking for? Who else is Evan recruiting? What is Tabitha up to, and what is this stuff she's been shooting up? And why is Callisto mad at Angel? I will tell you all one day... ONE DAY!


	4. The Gulag

Okay, okay, chapter four is here. Yes, four chapters up… yikes, and I'm only just now touching the main plot and bringing in one of the central villains. We're almost to the good chapters, just hang on. Oh, and excuse the grammar.

****

Chapter Four - The Gulag 

Somewhere in the frozen wastelands of northern Russia, a long-abandoned former Soviet base was seeing use once more. The exterior was covered with piles of snow that showed that it had not been used for years, but the interior was thriving. Guards paced the poorly-lit concrete corridors with their rifles aimed at chest-level. They could not take chances with the prisoners they guarded, and a split-second too long could cost them their lives; however, when an important superior officer walked by, they were forced to plant their backs against the nearest all and stand at attention, saluting their superior until they were out of sight.

The guards did just this as Viper, their highest-ranking officer, walked past them, flanked by two special green-garbed higher guards. Viper's outfit was very different from the standard military uniform worn by the other officers in that her uniform was low-cut and made of a tighter-fitting green material. She wore black boots and gloves and a dark green coat, and her hair was jet black and hung down almost to her shoulders, parted so that her right eye was covered from view. Viper was once a member of the terrorist organization Hydra; in fact, she had been Madame Hydra until she betrayed the organization and used her command to destroy it from within. Rather than completely destroy Hydra, she re-organized it, making this new organization even more secret, and only the highest-ranking officers even knew the full reach of this new group. The guards saluting Viper had no knowledge of anything outside of the base they patrolled, or the prisoners they kept. 

Viper reached the end of the corridor and stopped at a large, stained metal door. A small robotic arm appeared from the wall with a tiny scanner and moved itself level with Viper's right eye. She brushed aside the hair and let the scanner do its job, though neither of her guards could see the right side of her face. There were rumors as to why she covered it, though nobody knew the real reason, if there was a true reason at all. With the retinal scan confirming her identity, the door slid open, and she stepped inside with her green-clad guards.

"Good evening, Mr. Wyngarde," Viper said with a thick Eastern European accent. Jason Wyngarde, the mutant Mastermind, was strapped to a chair in the middle of the poorly-lit, damp cell, wearing a dusty brown prison uniform. His hair was messy and filthy and he hadn't been allowed to shave in weeks. His eyes were bloodshot and there were heavy bags under his eyes. He looked up at Viper with a look of contempt... no, hate.

"What do you want?" he asked. His weak appearance was nothing compared to his weak voice, reduced almost to a croaky whisper.

"I want many things, Jason. Among them, your assistance."

"I'll do nothing for you."

"You will, if you want to leave this place. We will grant you your freedom, in exchange for your services."

"I know what you want me to do, Viper. I won't. Kill me. I won't do it." Then, Mastermind said, before he could stop himself, "Why don't you make the carnival man do it?"

"Mesmero has his hands tied with another task. He was most cooperative after we... persuaded him," Viper told him with a grin. Mastermind gulped loudly. "But we have studied your brain, and we cannot identify which portion controls your powers... it appears your brain follows a different design than most, we are forced to use other methods of persuasion. I'm afraid you'll have to remain here until our plan is fleshed out."

"Ran into an obstacle, did you?" Mastermind asked with a weak smile. 

"You could say that," Viper told him with a scowl. "But we are confident that it will be overcome. Hungry? Here." One of her green soldiers threw a piece of bread on the damp floor, a good foot away from Mastermind's chair. "There's your dinner. I'll see you tomorrow, Jason." Viper blew him a kiss and left the room. Mastermind regarded the bread and started to figure out a way of getting it, but quickly decided against it.

On her way to another cell in the wing, Viper was approached by the hooded X-Cutioner. He bowed his head in respect, and when she nodded to him, he spoke.

"It is done."

"Then we will keep him alive long enough for them to find him." Viper entered the cell with the X-Cutioner. A middle-aged, black haired man was seated at a table, and behind him stood a bald man, holding his hands against the black-haired man's head. This was Forge, a mutant gifted with the ability to conceive and build new technology, effectively making him a master inventor, and behind him was Mesmero, a carnival mentalist who had been captured by Viper's forces. Forge's hair was long, but clean, and his face was hidden behind a thin beard. There was a tranced look in his eyes, the work of Mesmero's hypnotic abilities. Mesmero had a large horizontal scar on his forehead and a droopy, distant look in his eyes, his face clear of any markings and his body clothed in a brown prisoner's uniform. Forge was using pieces of an old rifle and a television to build something, using his right arm, which could transform into a sort of all-purpose tool set. "But it would be such a shame to kill him, his machinery could still be useful... no, we will keep him. The carnival man as well."

-------------------------------

"No, no... hey, I told him! That's so like him!" Wanda spoke to Scott over the phone. Pyro was with her, waiting outside the Cerebro chamber for news. Beast wandered was looking after the surviving trainees in the cafeteria. 

"Swell conversation," Pyro said to himself. "I'd be nice if I was involved somehow."

"Huh? Oh, okay. Okay... no, you're the sweetest! No, you! Okay, okay! Bye!" Wanda turned her phone off. 

"Over so quickly?" Pyro asked sarcastically.

"Mystique needed to make some calls. It looks like Jean will be in there a while. The last time she used it, it took her hours to find anyone."

"I'd go hang out with Hank, but Danielle's been giving me weird looks. I'm afraid she might try to shut my brain down, too." There was a moment of silence between them. "You and Darkholme are getting along fine. I never thought he'd go for a girl like you. So uh... you two do it yet?"

"That's none of your business."

"C'mon, Darkholme's my mate, you're my team leader, I don't think you can both hide it from me forever, and what's the harm if you are? I'm not gonna run off and tell daddy, hell no, not me... he seems awfully okay with all this, though..."

"I can take care of myself. He has bigger things to worry about... and yes."

"Oh? Aw, hahaha! When? Where? Anyone hear you?"

"Look, I told you that much, don't bug me for more." Wanda idly looked through the settings on her phone. "I know we're opposites, but come on, nobody bugs Jean and Freddy."

"That's 'cuz Freddy's a walking bulldozer and Jean's got a temper the size of Africa." The legs of Pyro's chairs bent outward and could no longer support his weight. "Right, point taken." Pyro quickly took another chair. "But you're the nice-nice team leader, daddy's girl, can't do a thing wrong. It's good gossip, don't you think?" 

"Not if you keep your mouth shut, no. We'll tell everyone else when we're ready."

"Hmph. I bet Kurt and Todd already know." Danielle Moonstar walked into the waiting room with a note. "Oh, hi there. What brings you up here?"

"Amara wanted me to give this to you," Danielle said reluctantly. 

"Thought you and her didn't get along too well."

"After what happened, I guess I could do her a favor every now and then." 

"Well, thanks for the delivery, what do I owe you?"

"Uh... nothing, I-"

"Just jokin' is all!" Pyro said with a smile. "Now let's see what we got here... 'Dear Pyro,' always a good way to start a letter... 'I want to thank you for helping me in the foyer, without...' blah blah blah, mushy thank you note... 'luv, Amara.' Cute, she spelled it wrong. Eh... tell Amara to think nothing of it... actually, let me write her back." Pyro took a notebook often used for mission notes from a nearby metal compartment and started to write. "'Dear Amara... think nothing of it... just glad you're okay, don't know what I'd do if you hadn't made it... hope your day is fine... luv, Pyro.' That oughta do it. Mind taking this back to Amara, luv?"

"No problem," Danielle dryly said. "...That'll be fifty-five cents."

"Huh? I... uh..."

"Just joking." Danielle smile slightly. "I'll take it to her."

"Just oughta curiosity, what were you two fighting about?" Pyro asked.

"Oh, a boy. I know it's stupid. It won't happen again." Danielle turned towards the door, carrying the letter Pyro had given her.

"Must be some guy if he's worth all that," Wanda said. Neither of them noticed that Danielle had stopped and looked back at Pyro before she disappeared. "I wonder if Mystique's done with the phone..."

-------------------------------

"I can't look for some guy I've seen maybe once in my life!" Jean protested as she sat at the Cerebro console, wearing a helmet hooked up to the computer. Cerebro was an invention created by Professor Xavier, though he never lived to see it built. Magneto had built the machine according to his old friend's designs, but Jean Grey was the only telepath at the school after its completion, and so she was the first to really use it. Magneto stood behind her, and next to him were Pietro Lehnsherr and Freddy Dukes. "Look, I've just started using this piece of junk, you can't expect me to find some guy who could be ANYWHERE in the world! I can barely see anything with this stupid machine as it is!"

"It's real easy, Jean," Freddy said. "Magneto's given you his picture, and if he's using his powers, then he's making machines, so just look for that."

"I'll try, but I can't guarantee anything." Jean took a deep breath and focused her mind on finding Forge. White flashes entered her mind as Cerebro scanned the world for mutants. She could see people, but their faces were blurred, and somehow, she could tell what they could do. She sensed two faceless people directly behind her, one with the enhanced speed, and one with superhuman strength and endurance. "I'm doing better this time... there's Freddy... and Pietro... now I'm picking up Magneto..." Due to his enhancements, Magneto was more difficult to pick up. Cerebro's range widened. "Dorian... Pyro... Scott, his mother... Mr. Worthington..."

"See that? She's improving! I've never seen her work this machine so well!" Freddy said.

"Yes, but we have no time for celebration. This is important work."

"Right."

"I... wait... I'm not sense... wait... oh my God... I found him, Freddy! I FOUND HIM!" Jean threw off the helmet and rushed to Freddy, still screaming "I FOUND HIM!" Freddy couldn't remember when he had seen her so happy. Why would finding Forge mean so much to her?  


"So you found Forge?" Pietro asked. "Good! Where is he?"

"Forge? No... I couldn't find Forge... but I found my dad! He's in Russia!"

"Your... dad? I thought he was dead!"

"He's not, he's alive! He..." Jean's momentary excitement had passed. "Yeah... he..."

"There must be some mistake Jean, resume your efforts on Forge," Magneto said. "We don't have time for this." Freddy took a step back when he saw the look on Jean's face. She set the helmet down and stood up. Waving both hands forwards she threw Magneto against the door. Pietro rushed to stop her, but he was lifted into the air.

"You told me he was dead!" she screamed.

"He is! I saw him die!" Magneto told her. 

"Jean, please..." Freddy put his hands on Jean's shoulders. "Look into his mind. Magneto saw what he saw, and if that's not what happened, then you've both fooled. But it's not his fault." After staring at Magneto for a few moments, Jean calmed down. Magneto fixed his cape and lifted the Cerebro helmet with his power. Jean plucked it from the air and slipped it back on.

"We will see what has happened to your father later. Right now, our target is Forge."

"Wait... I'm..."

"Forge is here," a voice said in Jean's mind. "Forge is here... they are using him... Forge is here... why are they keeping me here? Forge and I are here... is Mystique here? Magneto? It's been so long... where exactly am I? I'm so hungry... that bread on the floor... no, that's no good, I won't lose my dignity over food... so hungry... I wonder if Forge is having this much trouble...?"

-------------------------------

Warren was at home that night, but his locked-in students felt he might as well not have been. He had locked himself in his office, making various phonecalls to lawyers and their clients. He had volunteered to handle some of the details of the legal action many of the parents were taking, partly to make up for his failure to kill Stryker, though Magneto had not pressured him in either case. He was fortunate that Roberto Da Costa hadn't been hurt, or he would have to face Mr. Da Costa's team of lawyers, a dream team few would dare go against. 

In the meantime, Lance Alvers, Kate Pryde, and Robert Drake kept themselves busy watching game shows. His hair was cut in a very military style, but otherwise, he was dressed just like Lance. 

"Gulf of Tonkin, Gulf of Tonkin!" Robert screamed at the television.

"I'm sorry, it was Bay of Pigs..."

"How could you miss that one?" Lance asked. 

"I'm going to the bathroom," Kate said. She got up and left the living room. Lance took a sip from his can of soda.

"So Lance," Robert said, "You and Kate... are you...?"

"Maybe," Lance said defensively. Robert hadn't met them until they all were joined together by Warren. He knew they had been friends for years. Warren had originally only met with Kate, but she only agreed to go if Lance was allowed to come with her. The way she clung to him said much about their relationship, but neither had really said anything... official. "Why?"

"I was just wondering. She's really cute, you know."

"I'm aware of that."

"I was just thinking you're a little old for her."

"...What?"

"Come on, I'm her age, you're like thirty..."

"I happen to be eighteen."

"Well then it's not even legal."

"I'm not going to listen to this." Lance changed the channel. One of the Fox News anchors was arguing with a liberal political expert about Father Stryker. 

"...He has a point, we haven't seen any mutants actually help people, we-"

"What about the X-Men?"

"Shut up!"

"They-"

"Shut up!"

"Mutant-"

"Shut up! Father Stryker is right about them too, they're doing all these good deeds to put up a good front! How come they only let mutants into that school?"

"...Because it's a school for mut-"

"That is segregation! THAT IS SEGREGATION!"

"So you want to order a pizza?" Robert asked. Lance shrugged. "Okay. Pepperoni and pineapple sound good?"

"No. I'm gonna go see what Kate wants on it." Lance walked out of the living room and knocked on the bathroom door down the hall. "Kate, we're getting pizza, what do you want on it?"

"Uh... hold on a minute..." Lance heard her shuffling around, and then something hit the floor.

"Hey, you okay in there?"

"I'm fine..." Kate grunted. "Don't come in!"

"Something's going on in there..." Lance opened the door. Kate was sitting on the floor with a belt tied around her arm, and in her hand, a syringe filled with a blue-gray fluid. "Kate, what are you doing?!"

"I need it Lance..." Lance took the needle away from her. "Please, Lance..."

"What is this?"

"It's legacy..."

"What does it do?"

"It makes me strong..." Lance pulled the needle off the syringe and let the legacy drip into the sink. He turned on the faucet and cleaned out the sink, then threw the broken syringe into the garbage can. The needle itself was dropped into the toilet and flushed. "Lance, why did you do that? I need it. Why?"

"Look, just promise me you won't do this again, and we won't tell Warren and Rob."

"...Okay..." Kate reluctantly said. "Mushrooms."

"Huh?"

"On the pizza. I want mushrooms."

-------------------------------

"I will lead this mission," Magneto told Wanda and Pietro as they walked down the hall to the Institute's hangar. "You two will stay here to protect the students that survived. We can't risk this executioner returning for them."

"Father, please," Wanda said to him. "This is a dangerous mission, you'll need me there."

"I would rather you join us, Wanda, but at the moment, your priority is to stay here. You will provide the safest defense in the event that he returns. As for you, Pietro, I want you to keep the Institute's defense systems up just in case."

"Sounds like overkill to me," he complained. Pietro remembered that he had to hide his emotional weakness, especially when his father was speaking in official terms.

"I'm not taking any risks! Given the circumstances, their parents may arrive to pull them out. If they do, keep them here until I return, I will talk to them myself."

"Are you kidding? I'm surprised the combined parents of the kids that didn't make it aren't suing you!"

"They are being dealt with as we speak."

"Anyone else staying?"

"No, I am taking Beast, Stalwart, Converse and Pyro with me. Wanda, I understand your frustration." Wanda looked at her father with a look of confusion. "I have called Mystique, and Scott is on his way over to help you."

"But..."

"Don't worry, Wanda. I trust Mystique as I trust her children." Magneto forced the elevator doors open and stepped inside. "One more thing. If Warren calls, tell him where I've gone. If Ororo calls, tell her I'm out on a training exercise. I'll see to her later." The doors closed and the elevator descended.

"Phhp, letting Scott come over, he spoils you."

"Not now, Pietro. I need to get back to the dorms to keep an eye on them." Pietro nodded and started to walk away. "Oh, and when Scott gets here... don't get nosy." Pietro allowed himself a grin before he sped off.

"You mean we're not taking the jet?" Pyro asked. He stood with Beast, Freddy and Jean in the massive underground hangar. Several vehicles, both working and non-working, were stationed there, among them the Blackbird jet Pyro was referring to. Pyro wore a black uniform with silver armor like the others, but he also had a pair of insulated gloves and attached to them were hoses that ran into a specially armored flamethrower pack. To finish the look, he wore a pair of welding goggles. 

Magneto hovered towards them and raised his hands. The jet was moved away and a panel beneath it opened, and a massive metal sphere floated out, followed by four others identical to it, all highly polished like spherical mirrors. They floated together in a straight line before Magneto set them down. "...You're kidding, right?"

"When have you known me to joke, Pyro?" Seeing the confused looks on the faces of the others, he explained. "These spheres are designed to carry individuals across great distances, under my power. I have chosen to use these for this mission because our standard aircraft would be known to our enemies. These spheres will likely be a complete surprise to them, and they will not have any prepared defense against them."

"But that means you have to carry us around," Jean said. "Well what if you don't make it back? How are we supposed to get back here?"

"If it comes to that, return to the sphere, and you will be brought back." Circular iris-doors appeared on the front of each sphere and a blue light flowed out from the interior. Beast was the first to enter, having previous experience with the spheres. Shrugging, Pyro stepped inside the next one.

"Now you're sure we won't need you to get back?" Jean asked.

"You don't have to worry about that." Jean remained reluctant to enter. Seeing this, Freddy stepped into one of the spheres. She paused before slowly stepping into another one. Magneto floated into the last one and the spheres were sealed. A doorway just large enough for each sphere opened in the hangar ceiling and they slid out. Outside, Scott Darkholme stopped his motorcycle a few yards from the Institute to watch the spheres as they ascended into the sky and disappeared in the distance.

"Hmph. Weird people living here..."

-------------------------------

"Madame, the trackers are in place," Storm's insectoid servant told her. Storm pulled the hood of her black raincoat forward to make sure her face was concealed. She sat in the backseat of a limousine with her insect servant, who carried a small device that looked like a portable television. Though her windows were tinted, Storm was taking a risk being where she was, and if by some chance there was a mutant nearby that could see through tinted windows, she wanted to make sure they didn't see her.

"He must have gone out with his team," Storm said, watching the signal. "Evan, is your... new team ready?" Evan Daniels sat across from her, likewise dressed in a gray raincoat with his sunglasses still firmly attached to his head. 

"Well... they're the best I could get on short notice," Evan replied. "They won't be as good as my last team, but they're ready."

"I understand that, Evan. They were good men, but I'd rather have them dead than captured. Make sure the same is true for your new team, Evan."

"Transportation?" Evan asked, hoping to get to work as soon as possible.

"I can't risk having my private jet tracked... I've arranged for you to... borrow one from the airport." Storm's servant opened the car door to let Evan out, keeping his wings stretched out to hide Storm from view. The rain was thick and the clouds kept any light from shining down, so Evan had the advantage of darkness, but he had to act quickly. His aunt didn't like using her powers so openly for too long. Evan signaled to another car, and his team, all dressed in the same gray raincoats, began.

The airport fence was quickly blown apart by the first team member. He stepped aside as the others quickly moved through, staying behind to make sure nobody saw them, then followed.

The second member of the team stopped at the door of one of the outlying hangars, and motioned for the others to stand back. He ran right through the hangar door with little effort, creating a hole large enough for the others to pass through.

"Hey, you can't be here!" a technician yelled. The third member of Evan's team smashed the technician's face with his hand and then threw his foot against the second one, and then flew onto the shoulders over a third technician and squeezed his head with his ankles and flipped over, throwing the hapless technician against the wall.

The fourth member of the team rushed into the hangar work area and noticing a chain around a gated storage shelf, she rubbed her hands together. Moments later, the chain was missing a link and she pulled out a box with a small metal key. She threw it to Evan, who opened the jet's door and headed to the cabin. His fourth member joined him as the other three took their seats.

Storm watched as the jet moved out of the hangar and the storm clouds disappeared. With the sky cleared, the jet took off. Storm smiled to herself, impressed by the quick work of Evan's new team. 

"We'd better get back," she said to the driver, who nodded and took the limo back on the road.

-------------------------------

"You seen Toad anywhere?" Kurt asked Rogue and Mystique, who were reading in the living room. They all knew where Scott was, but Toad was usually at home at that hour, and it wasn't until later that he and Kurt would hit the town to cause trouble.

"No," Mystique said. "I didn't know he was gone. Well, no need to worry, he shouldn't be gone long."

"You don't suppose he went with Scott, do you?"

"Ha!" Rogue yelled. "That's a good one. You know Toad hates those X-kids."

"I know, I was thinking maybe he went to go pick on them, but that'd be kinda mean after what happened." Kurt shrugged and teleported up the stairs.

"So who's this Forge guy Magneto's after?" Rogue asked, reminded of what Mystique had told them earlier while reading another article about outraged parents filing suit against the Xavier Institute.

"Oh, Forge," Mystique said, looking up from her book, "He was an instructor at the Institute a while ago, back when the first class was there. He was an inventor, so he was the one who designed the Institute and its defenses. He built Cerebro based on Charles Xavier's plans, but he was smart. He saw the evil potential of such a machine. He implanted some chip in his own head as a test, to make sure that he couldn't be tracked. He left the Institute when the original class graduated, and he's been in seclusion since then. I have no idea how Magneto managed to find him."

"Sounds like you knew him well."

"Well, the faculty, we had to get along. Me, Forge, Mr. Wyngarde, it was just us three and a bunch of immature kids. Magneto never had the patience to teach them himself, but he still had enough honor in him not to abandon the Institute. Forge was a good man. You know, he and I, we almost..." Mystique noticed the disgusted look on Rogue's face. "No, it wasn't like that!"

"I still don't want to hear it."

"Suit yourself, but we were close for a while. I hope Magneto finds him well."

"You never did tell us what happened to Mr. Wyngarde," Rogue said. The Darkholmes all knew about Jason Wyngarde, but only Mystique and one of Rogue's brothers had ever met him.

"It's... a long story, really. I don't have time for it right now. All I will tell you is that he asked me to watch after one of his children, and so I did. I never knew him as well as Forge, but Jason was a good man. Had his adopted daughter not ran away, I would have taken her in as welll."

"Ugh. I'm glad you didn't."

"Okay, where the hell is Toad?!" Kurt asked once again, appearing between mother and daughter. "Not in the rooms, not outside, not at the store, not at Greg's house, not at Lindsay's house, not with Scott... argh. I need to show him something!" Kurt teleported once again. He appeared in his room and jumped on his bed. "Hmph. More for me then."

Kurt took a syringe from under his bed.

Hmmm?! What does Viper have planned? Why is this drug called legacy? Could it be... THE LEGACY VIRUS?!?!?!

I'll tell you right now that it's not EXACTLY the Legacy virus, but it does have its origins there.

Anyway, you may notice that we have our villains (Stryker, Viper, X-Cutioner), yet... no Apocalypse. HMMMMM...


	5. Reunion and Viper's Ultimatum

Chapter five! Five chapters! Cinco capitulos! Yeah. Oh, and excuse the grammar.

****

Chapter Five - Reunion and Viper's Ultimatum

"Okay, break it up!" Scott yelled. Dorian Leech and Jamie Madrox had gotten into a tussle over a small argument. Sam Guthrie and Amara Aquila went in to separate them. "What's the problem?"

"He thinks he's better than me because he looks normal!" Dorian said.

"Jamie, is this true?" Wanda asked with a tone of authority.

"No... I just said that the mutant hunters would probably go after him first... it's true you know!"

"So you think that makes you better than me?!"

"Enough!" Wanda yelled. "Dorian, as much as I hate to admit it, Jamie has a point. The mutant hunters go after the ones with the most obvious mutations." She saw the sadness in Dorian's face. "But that doesn't mean they won't hunt everyone else down, too. Once they see a mutant using his powers, they won't care what they look like."

"...Way to give them optimism," Danielle muttered. She was only a year younger than Wanda, and yet she was forced to take orders from her. She was often reminded that many of the X-Men were older than her, but they had no complaints. If they went by seniority, Beast would be the leader, and most of the X-Men had expressed their concerns with his absent-minded behavior.

"Whether you like it or not, Danielle, that's the real world. It's getting harder to be a mutant these days and it's even harder to stay optimistic when everyone is jealous of you and ready to hang you at the next traffic light just for being different." Scott saw the floor directly beneath Wanda was rippling under her suppressed rage. It stopped after a few moments. "Now, let's continue this training session." Dorian and Jamie shook hands and returned to opposite sides of the Danger Room. Dorian, Danielle, Rahne and Roberto, among others, were on one side, Jamie, Amara, and- deciding to join in on the fun- Scott on the other, with another group of mutants. A red rubber ball appeared from the floor and jumped into Wanda's hands. "Okay kids..." Scott grunted. "...And the big kid in the sunglasses... first lesson today is an exercise in restraint. It's getting harder and harder to be a mutant these days, but you'll need your cover, so we'll start off easy... dodgeball, with no powers." Four more balls appeared from the floor, right between the teams. Wanda set the fifth ball down in line with the others. "Remember the rules- if the ball touches you, you're out! Teams ready? Go!" Rahne attempted to morph herself to get to the ball first, but Wanda hexed her and she was forced to run. A vile grin appeared on Scott's face and he pegged Roberto. Rahne took the ball and nearly hit Amara, but it bounced against the wall and hit Scott in the back.

"DAMMIT!"

"You know the rules, Scott, your out!" Scott walked over to the "out" area with Roberto and Wanda. "Having fun playing with kids?"

"Eh, you're never too old for dodgeball." Dorian soon joined them. "Or young."

-------------------------------

Pyro sat impatiently and uncomfortably inside Magneto's metal sphere. The spheres moved quickly but were not practically made, and held little room inside. Pyro had to fold his legs and hug them just to fit properly, he couldn't imagine how Freddy could fit. There was, fortunately, a blue light inside and an electronic console off to the side, though he had no idea what it did, and if Magneto was going to yell at him, he would rather not find out.

Pyro felt the sphere slow down and begin to hover, then felt the sphere gently drop to the floor. The hatch of his sphere opened and he stepped out, stretching his arms and legs and cracking his neck. Beast, Jean and Freddy were already out, and once all four emerged, Magneto himself hovered out of his sphere.

In his eagerness to get out and stretch, Pyro hadn't noticed where they had landed, and in fact, he wasn't quite sure where they were. All he could see for miles was snow but he stood on concrete. He looked down and realized he was on top of a building, itself covered with some snow, but otherwise kept fairly clean. 

"It's a little chilly here," Beast remarked. "Pyro, do you think you could help us out?"

"I got it covered!" Pyro used his flamethrowers to generate a fireball, but Magneto waved his hand and used his magnetic abilities to stop the flamethrower. "Aw, what gives?"

"We can't afford to attract attention, not yet." Magneto pointed to what appeared to be a manhole cover on the far side of the roof. "We will enter through there. I will go first, and the rest will follow. Beast, stay here and guard the spheres. Stay in contact and notify me if so much as a bird appears on this roof."

"Gotcha," Beast said. Magneto gently slid the manhole cover over and hovered down the access ladder. Immediately, the others heard the sound of gunfire, followed by faint screaming, a grunt, and then nothing. "Come, quickly," Magneto's voice resonated. Pyro hurried down the ladder, followed Freddy and Jean. The X-Men stood inside a poorly lit concrete hallway. Unconscious soldiers and broken guns littered the hall, and Magneto waited silently before issuing his command. Jean looked around carefully, uncomfortable with the poor lighting. Suddenly, a stream of fire flew by her head. Jean quickly jumped to Freddy, and both looked behind them as Pyro laughed. Quite angry to say the least, Jean stomped over to him and punched Pyro on the shoulder.

"Don't startle me like that. What are we waiting for?"

"Converse, scan the next room," Magneto said. "Tell me what you see."

"Alright," Jean closed her eyes and pressed her fingers against her temples. "There's... more guards... six of them... two just left the room... the door is closed."

"Stalwart, quickly." Freddy cracked his knuckles and broke right through the metal door into the next room. His massive arms collided with the heads of two guards as Jean threw one guard at another. Now they were faced with three doors.

"Well now what?" Pyro asked.

"...Thank you for volunteering, Pyro," Magneto said. He pointed to one of the beaten guards, who was reaching for a radio a few feet away from him. Pyro grinned and created a fireball that bounced off the radio and hovered over the guard, then spread into a fire cage that was slowly closing in on him.

"No... please don't hurt me!"

"You will tell us what we want to know," Magneto commanded. Jean and Freddy stood nearby, but none looked as imposing to the guard as Magneto, and none as downright scary as Pyro with his near-psychotic grin and streaming flames. 

"I'm not talking!"

"I respect your decision. Pyro!" The fire cage closed in on the guard. Beads of sweat ran down his forehead and his uniform was getting unbearably hot, but he didn't dare betray his superiors, even at the cost of his own life.

"Wait! Stop! I'll... I'll talk..." The fire cage stopped moving, but remained in place.

"Which door leads to the cell block?"

"The one on the left... follow it and take the door on the right, you'll be in the cell block..."

"Your cooperation is appreciated." The flames disappeared and the guard stood up long enough for Beast to punch him in the face and knock him out. "Jean?"

"He was telling the truth... except the right door after this one would have led us right into the firing range. The center door is the cell block."

"His loyalty is admirable." 

"There's four guards in the next hall... one just entered... now!" Freddy charged through the door and pummeled two of the guards into submission. Jean lifted the three remaining guards off the floor and slammed one of them against the wall. Pyro kept a ring of flame close enough to the second guard's face to cut off oxygen and knock him out, and Magneto used the third's rifle to knock him in the face. Once the dust had settled, they looked at the door on the left wall, an identical door at the right wall, and a larger door at the center wall at the end of the hallway.

"We wi-" Magneto was cut off by the explosion of the right door. The mutant called Gambit stepped out, dusting off his hands and walking up to them with a grin. "What is this?"

"So you're behind this!" Evan Daniels yelled. Bone-spikes appeared on his forearms. "I knew we couldn't trust you!"

"Evan? Ororo's boy. What are you doing here?"

"What are YOU doing here?"

"We don't have time for this. Converse and I will enter. Stalwart, Pyro, stay here and stand guard." 

"I'm going in," Evan said.

"You will stay here."

"Toad, come with me." 

"Toad?!" Jean said in disbelief. Toad hopped out of the smoking room, wearing an all-black outfit with a jacket. "Wha...?!"

"Hey, Jean. Heh... I heard. That's why I'm here!"

"Well... alright. We can trust them," she said to Magneto.

"Very well. Evan, Todd... you come with us. Whoever else is with you will stay here and cover us." Magneto pulled the door off and led Jean through, followed by Evan and Toad. A few guards attempted to stop them, but were dispatched quickly. The cell block was even dimmer than the rest of the base, but strangely, it wasn't as guarded as Magneto had anticipated. The circular cell doors were made of thick steel, preventing any ordinary prisoner from ever escaping... but the captives behind the doors weren't exactly ordinary. There were six doors, three on one side, two on the other, and one at the end of the hall.

"Con-"

"Each cell contains exactly one prisoner..." Jean said. Magneto was a little surprised. "Just staying a step ahead."

"Good work. Which cell contains Mastermind?" he asked her.

"...The one at the end... he's... he knows we're here!" Jean closed her eyes and concentrated. Magneto put his hand on her shoulder and nudged her out of her trance. "What?!"

"You will have a chance to speak with him soon enough." Magneto used both hands to pull out the steel door, but the hall wasn't wide enough to allow them access while the steel door stood in the way of the cell entrance. Magneto stopped the door halfway and created a hole in the center, pressing the door outward to create an opening wide enough for him to hover through.

"...Magnus!" Mastermind called. His shackles were torn apart by Magneto's power. He tried to stand up, but was too weak, and Toad caught him and helped him up. "Todd... Erik... Jean..." Jean embraced her father with tears in her eyes, but it was Mastermind whose tears were greatest. "I missed you both so much..."

"Me too dad... I'm so sorry..."

"Jean, it's alright... you have nothing to apologize for."

"But..."

"We don't have time for this," Magneto said, very annoyed with yet another setback. "It is good to see you alive, Jason, but we must hurry."

"Forge..."

"What?"

"Forge is here," Mastermind said. "They have another mutant, a hypnotist, he's forcing him to make... things for these people... we need to free him."

"We will. Converse, is Forge in any of these cells?"

"I'm not sensing him," she said to him. "There's two prisoners that I can't quite detect... I know they're there, but I can't see who they are."

"We'll just have to see for ourselves." Magneto opened the door Jean pointed to and found Forge sitting at a table inside a cell twice as large as Mastermind's... it appeared that the doors next to each other led into the same larger cell. Mesmero still stood with Forge as he worked on some large, cylindrical device that ended in a sphere with numerous holes in it. "Forge, it's time to go."

"..."

"Forge?"

"He is under the hypnotist's control," Mastermind said. 

"That can be fixed," Evan said. He created a spike on each palm and aimed them both at Mesmero.

"Wait, you fool!" Magneto yelled. He pulled Evan's forearm down. "There are other ways. Converse." Jean stood behind Mesmero and put her hands a few inches from his head. "Be quick."

"Ah... uh..." Jean backed away, nervously. 

"Well?!"

"There's nothing there..."

"Very well." Magneto let go of Evan's arm and nodded to him. Evan raised his spikes again and fired, pinning Mesmero to the wall by the shoulders of his prisoner garb. Stuck to the wall, Mesmero began to mumble and drool, but made no real attempt to escape. Forge suddenly sat up, startled.

"Holy... wha? What's going on? Erik... Jason? Wha? This..."

"We'll have time for explanations later!" Magneto yelled, now growing very frustrated. "Todd, take him. Now, we must move quickly." Magneto led the others back out, only to find that each step they took produced a vibration along the floor. "Oh, what NOW?!" The floor itself gave Magneto his answer.

"ACK!!" Toad yelled as he fell with the others. "WHERE DID THE FLOOR GO?!"

Back in the corridor, Freddy and one of Evan's team members, Colossus, were busy holding back a horde of soldiers pouring out of the firing range. Colossus was massive in his steel form, dressed in a black bodysuit with blue-green armor, though only his metal arms and head were exposed. Tabitha Smith, the last member of Evan's team, tossed her firecracker bombs into the soldiers, but their armor was strong enough to protect them. Tabitha was dressed in a skin-tight outfit, black, gray and purple. Gambit charged fragments of rubble from the previous explosion, but those didn't do much either. As for Pyro... the poor guy had run out of fuel for his flamethrowers. 

"Pyro, how are they?" Freddy asked. Pyro looked into the cell block and frowned as he saw the floor had disappeared. "Well?"

"They've... kinda taken a little trip."

"I knew this would happen... I'm going in!"

"Are you mad, man?! Something grabs Magneto, you know you don't mess with it!"

"But it grabbed Jean, too, and I'm not letting them get away with that!"

"No time to play macho!" Tabitha yelled. "There's too many, we need to get out of here!"

"Someone's taking care of that for us!" Gambit yelled. A metal tentacle appeared through the floor and grabbed Colossus's leg, then used the metal mutant's own weight to create a hole in the floor. As Colossus was dragged down, a second tentacle appeared and grabbed Tabitha's leg. Gambit took her hands and tried to pull her out, but something pulled him away from her. A massive furry arm threw him against the wall. Freddy and Pyro were now facing their new enemy, and the guards had all disappeared. Gambit kicked off the wall and landed between them. Their new enemy roared and charged.

-------------------------------

Viper sat at a console in a well-lit and highly polished control room with a microphone headset and a glass of wine in her hand. Several of her special green guards were stationed at the door, and her guests sat in comfortable chairs near her console.

"There we are, right on time," Viper said. She rose from her seat and looked up to a large viewscreen that displayed three different scenes: the first was an arena-like room, much like the Xavier Institute's Danger Room, where Jean, Toad and Evan waited. They were fine, though shaken and quite obviously surprised. That tended to happen when the floor disappeared. They had entered from the room they had fallen into through a concrete door. Magneto, Mastermind and Forge were not with them.

"Yes, yes, our opportunity," said a skinny old man in green lab clothing and wearing a small pair of glasses. His name was unknown, but everyone knew him as the Professor. Years before his involvement with the Pure Blood Movement, the Professor was head of Project Weapon X. Though he had complete control of that body, technology in those days was limited. Viper allowed him access to greater technology, through which he could perfect his techniques. "I will show you just how successful our experiments really were..." The second scene was a smaller metal room where Colossus, Tabitha and Beast faced an opponent armed with twin metal tendrils.

"I doubt they will amount to anything," a distinct Irish voice said. Father Stryker sat at the other chair, with the X-Cutioner standing behind him like a sentry. "Only one of your little toys has ever amounted to anything."

"We will see, priest," the Professor told him, rather insulted. The third scene was the same concrete hallway where Pyro, Freddy and Gambit dodged the attacks of a furry monster.

"Gentlemen, we are not here to quarrel amongst ourselves," Viper said. "I have great confidence in the Professor's abilities, so let us relax and enjoy the show. Care for some wine, Father?"

"I don't drink," Stryker told her as if she should have known.

"Please, Father, I know you are not the saint you pretend to be."

"...Regardless of how I treat mutants, or how I present myself to the media, I am still a priest." 

"Have it your way." The mutants in the hallway looked around, confused. Viper brought a microphone to her and spoke to them. "We have been expecting you, X-Men. In a few short moments, you will witness the extent of the power of the Pure Blood Movement... it is with great pleasure that I present to you your executioners..." 

Pyro watched the tall monster covered in golden fur, with a shaggy mane hanging from his head. He roared and showed them his razor-sharp teeth to match the black claws on his hands. "For you, in the corridor, we present an advanced stage of the Weapon X project, we call this one Sabretooth." Pyro took cover behind Freddy and Gambit took a charged screw from his belt pouch and threw it right at Sabretooth's chest. The impact left a burnt mark on his fur, but soon the burnt fur shed and new hair grew in its place. Sabretooth grabbed Gambit by the head and threw him behind him.

"Tough guy, huh?" Freddy said. "Okay, come on!" Sabretooth roared and charged, but in one punch, he was at the other end of the hall. Freddy flexed his muscles and grinned.

"We do some good work," Gambit said, as if he had contributed to Freddy's blow. "Let's go regroup, shall we?"

"He's not down yet," Pyro reminded him. Sabretooth was back on his feet, shaking his head. "Shame my tanks are all out... wouldn't happen to have a lighter on you, would you?"

"But of course!" Gambit tossed Pyro a disposable lighter and the red-haired mutant grinned. 

"Better stand back, he loses his mind when he has flames," Freddy warned him. Pyro held the lighter out, aimed at Sabretooth, and held his other hand behind it. Sabretooth stopped his advance and waited for Pyro to make his move. With a grin, Pyro was happy to oblige. The tiny flame generated by the lighter became a roaring blast. Gambit jumped behind Freddy. "I told you."

"GRRRAAARRGGGHH!" Sabretooth collapsed under the flames. The lighter ran out of juice and the room returned to normal, albeit singed. Sabretooth was still on fire, thrashing on the floor and rolling around, desperate to put out the flames. He stood up, still smoking, and tensed his body. The singed hair fell out and his burnt flesh began to regenerate itself.

"...Son of a bitch."

"And for you, in the training chamber," Viper continued over the intercom, "We have Arkady Rossovich..." A ghost-white man with long yellow hair stood in the metal room facing Colossus, Beast and Tabitha. He was dressed in red and silver armor and silver appendages twitched in his inner wrists. They extended as long, whip-like tendrils that coiled around him and snapped against the floor, leaving harsh dents in the concrete construction. "Another project from our friends at Weapon X, only this time, built for the Soviet Union. His codename was Omega Red." Omega Red wrapped his left tendril around Colossus and elbowed Beast with his right arm before throwing the right tendril along the floor and tripping Tabitha. Colossus struggled against the strength of the metal coiling around him while Beast jumped around the room avoiding the other. Tabitha threw a well-aimed bomb at the spot where Omega Red's left tendril entered his arm and triggered a reflex that retracted it, spinning Colossus and throwing him against the wall in the process, but nonetheless freeing him.

"He's more violent than he was last time I encountered him," Beast said to Tabitha.

"You know him?"

"Yes, and I ate his donut by mistake... those bullwhips on his arms are remarkable inventions, construction from carbonadium, which is much like adamantium, only it's flexible, like the organic steel on our friend here... what's your name again?"

"That's Colossus," Tabitha said.

"Right, Colossus, a fitting name. You know, there's been research into preserving adamantium in its original liquid state, though I don't know why anyone wou-" Omega Red grabbed Beast by the waist and threw him against the ceiling, then against the wall, then threw him back against the floor. 

"Perhaps it would be best to leave the explanations for later," Colossus suggested.

"I concur," Beast coughed.

"And for you, in our special arena," Viper continued, "We have a special treat.. I am sure you have at least heard of him. After all, he is the half-brother of the late Charles Xavier. It seems his brother was wrong, and Cain Marko was indeed a mutant. We have found a way to trigger his mutation, and now, you will face the wrath of the unstoppable Juggernaut." Juggernaut had more mass than Jean, Evan and Toad combined, wearing distinct dark silver armor with rust dotting it. His head was enclosed in a rusted silver dome, and through it, his eyes were white and soulless. Toad jumped over Juggernaut's giant fist and leaped off his shoulder, and Evan launched a barrage of bone-spikes which did little more than irritate him. Jean concentrated and lifted him off the ground, but it was pointless if they couldn't find a way to hurt him. 

"See if you can get into his head," Evan said.

"Who put you in charge?!" Jean yelled.

"You have a better idea?" Jean grimaced and focused. After a few seconds, she looked at Evan and shook her head. 

"Something's blocking me."

"Then we're screwed," Toad muttered. He hurled a glob of slime at Juggernaut's face, but missed and just hit the domed helmet.

"That's it, the helmet! Toad, get to the helmet!"

"Eh... aaah... you sure about this?" Juggernaut slammed his fists into the ground and shook the entire arena. Jean lifted herself along with Evan and Toad to avoid the tremor. "Okay... lemme at him!" Jean released her brother and he jumped over Juggernaut's head and stuck to his back. While the mutant behemoth struggled to reach behind him and pull him off, Toad unhinged one of the latches of his helmet. He avoided a massive hand and finished the second latch. Now there were only two left... on the front. Toad jumped off and away.

"The others too, Toad!" Evan commanded.

"Eh... I got two, how about YOU do something?!"

"Because I'm not a slimy little speedball like you, now hurry up!" Toad gulped and watched Juggernaut carefully. He marched towards Evan and Jean, who weren't making any effort of any kind to stop him. Of course, they were distracting him! Toad grinned and let his green tongue slip out of his mouth and crawl along Juggernaut's helmet... what a horrible taste... and find its way to the left latch. Quickly, he unfastened it and let his tongue flew back into his mouth, but it stopped suddenly. Juggernaut hadn't missed it; he had taken hold of it when he noticed it working with the latch. He threw it forward and sent Toad right on Evan, leaving only Jean on her feet. While they struggled to get back up, she concentrated and slipped the last latch off, then threw Juggernaut's helmet off.

"Well why didn't you just do that in the first place?!" Evan yelled. Jean ignored him and focused on his mind, shutting out all outside distractions... the arena faded away and Evan's yells grew silent. As far as she was concerned, the only things that existed were herself and the giant mutant marching towards her. His mind seemed unusually complex for someone as strong as him, Jean had expected him to be quite stupid, but she saw that Juggernaut didn't have access to his mind... he had been brainwashed. Still, she had work to do. 

Jean concentrated on Juggernaut's mind and forced her own consciousness against his, hoping to overpower his mind into a state of unconsciousness. She opened her eyes and saw Juggernaut moving backwards.

"Huh?" She realized that Toad had grabbed her and was jumping away from Juggernaut with Evan. "Toad, put me down!"

"You took too long, he was about to grab you!"

"Look, just put me down and let me work! Now I have to start over again, thanks a lot, asshole!" Jean closed her eyes, sighed in frustration, and concentrated again. Once more, the world around her disappeared and-

"AAARGGH!" Jean opened her eyes. Juggernaut was encased in metal, struggling to break free, but unable. Even his immense strength was no match for the master of magnetism. Magneto had created a hole in the ceiling using parts of a metal door.

"Well where have YOU been?!" Jean yelled at him.

"I was detained. I will explain later. Now let us find the others and get out of he- oh, not this again!" Several plastic spheres drifted down from the hole Magneto had created and surrounded them. They released clouds of red gas that enveloped the group. Jean created a telekinetic shield to keep the gas out.

"That won't help you," Viper said through the intercom. A plastic disc flew through the red smoke and penetrated Jean's psychic shield, attaching itself to her chest and zapping her with white energy. In a matter of moments, she disappeared. The red gas was drained out through a ventilation system. The X-Cutioner stood near the group, and his pose suggested that it was he who had thrown the strange teleportation disc. He attached one onto his own chest and disappeared.

"WHERE'S JEAN?!" Toad yelled. "YOU LET MY SISTER GO OR I'LL-"

"You'll do nothing, young man." Juggernaut had already left the room, but metal in his shape remained littered on the floor. A spherical device attached to an arm lowered from the ceiling as Magneto lifted the metal and hurled it at the wall. The metal dropped before it reached the concrete and Magneto realized that a nullification device had been activated. "We have the captives we need. You are free to go."

"We are not going anywhere," Magneto declared.

"Have it your way." The concrete door opened and dozens of soldiers rushed in, aiming their rifles at them. With the nullification device activated, they had no way of defending themselves. 

"This isn't over," Magneto said. The soldiers parted and allowed him to pass with Evan and Toad. Once they had left the arena, the saw that a nullification device had been activated in every room, destroying Magneto's alternate planning of storming the base once they left the arena. Pyro waited near the ladder where they had entered with Colossus carrying an unconscious Gambit with Tabitha stroking his hair with a look of concern on her face. .

"Stalwart and Beast... captured?" Magneto asked.

"Captured," Pyro sighed. "And we can't do shit with those things on."

"We have no other option but to return home and plan a rescue attempt."

"Wanda might've been useful."

"Mmm." Magneto said, not completely agreeing but at least acknowledging what Pyro had said. If he had brought Wanda, then there was a chance she would have also been captured. Even if their chances for success increased, Magneto wasn't sure if it would have been worth that risk. "Evan, do you and your allies have transportation?"

"We stole a jet to get here, but we sort of crashed it. We were planning on stealing a jet here, too. Covering our tracks."

"I can widen the spheres and fit you, but it will be cramped. I will have a talk with Ororo about your little mission later."

-------------------------------

The younger students had been sent back to their dorms, leaving the two older kids to themselves (Danielle had made a comment about this, but it will not be repeated). To ease their responsibility, the students all took turns watching over the respective gender-segregated dorms, agreeing to call Wanda if anything happened. In the meantime, Wanda and Scott enjoyed a midnight snack in the cafeteria, though it was just leftover macaroni and cheese from lunch. 

"Cheese... not the most romantic food," Wanda said. 

"Good enough for m-"

"There's something under the bed!" Dorian screamed through the intercom. Wanda jumped.

"Dorian, we'll be right-"

"Wait, it's just Roberto... he's being a jerk!"

"Roberto, don't do that. it's not funny." Wanda released the button. "These kids, sometimes I wish they'd grow up. It's hard enough keeping mutants in line without pranks and tattling."

"Wanda, there's something in the hallway!"

"What? Dorian, hold on, we-"

"It's just Amara coming back from the bathroom," Danielle said through the intercom. "Tell that kid to quit being so paranoid."

"He's got a reason to be paranoid," Scott said to Wanda. "After what just happened, I'd be too."

"Yeah. It's going to get a lot more stressful after this. It's bad enough that we lost all those kids, now we're going to have to deal with lawsuits, press, anti-human groups, anti-mutant groups... it's going to be a nightmare."

"And your father's probably going to push you into the spotlight, being chief representative and all."

"Yeah... he means well, but sometimes I think he pushes us too hard..." Wanda put her head on Scott's shoulder. "I'm 17... I'm too young for all this. It's too much pressure..." Scott realized that nothing he said would make her feel better, so he said nothing at all. He let his actions speak for him by putting his arm around Wanda's shoulders and just letting her lean on him. Sometimes, actions were more effective than words.

"There's a noise on the roof!" Dorian screamed.

"Is it Roberto again?" Scott said, covering for Wanda.

"No, something's walking around on the roof..."

"C'mon, we'd better check it out..."

"Just us, no need to worry," Pyro said over the intercom. The hangar was right above the dorms, and so the sound of the metal spheres and their passengers walking around had scared poor Dorian. Magneto gathered what was left of his X-Men- Pyro, the Scarlet Witch, and Pietro- and everyone else- Scott, Toad, Evan, Colossus, Tabitha and Gambit- in the planning room.

"Three of our own have been captured. We were powerless to retaliate, and so we will form a new strategy to get them back."

"Mom's gonna have a fit when she finds out you were there," Scott said to Toad.

"Eh."

"Evan, I want to set up a meeting with your aunt. We will need all the resources we can muster in order to fight our common enemy, and Ororo's connections could be useful."

"Wait, what do you mean connections?" Evan asked defensively. "What are you-"

"Evan, she is not as good at hiding her business as she would have others believe. I am not her master, and how she runs her business is not my concern. We will need everyone we can find to fight. Scott, Todd, call Mystique, we will need the Darkholmes involved as well. I will contact Warren and Callisto. Wanda, you are in charge of public relations. I don't have time to deal with the press or the attorneys at the moments, not until we at least have Hank, Jean and Fred back."

"Yes, sir," Wanda said, hiding her frustration. Scott put his hand on her shoulder.

"Pietro, I want you to keep all systems running at full power. We will meet tomorrow morning at eight. This meeting is over. Wanda, Pyro, get some rest. I will see the rest of you tomorrow." Magneto turned and left the room. Evan and his team muttered quick goodbyes and left. Wanda sighed, kissed Scott, and left for the dorms with Pyro. Scott and Toad exchanged looks and followed Evan's team out the door. Pietro exchanged nods with Magneto, then ran off to the control room.

-------------------------------

Jean, Freddy and Beast were held in stasis chambers filled with a green fluid designed to keep them under control. None of them were conscious, as the fluid induced a sleep-like trance in anyone engulfed by it. The paralysis was strong enough to contain Juggernaut, who floated in his own chamber set aside from the prisoners, contained only because his brainwashing only last a short amount of time before it wore off and he would attack his own masters. Omega Red and Sabretooth watched the prisoners and saluted as Viper walked in with Father Stryker, the X-Cutioner, and Mastermind.

"Make this quick," Stryker said. "It's late, and I want to return to Donegal and get some sleep."

"Mr. Wyngarde, do you recognize these mutants?" Viper asked. Mastermind looked up and gasped at the sight. "Don't be so dramatic. Your daughter and her friends are alright, for now. If you want to keep it that way, then you will cooperate."

"No. You won't blackmail me into doing it. I know what you want, and I won't give in." 

"Hmmph. Have it your way." Viper snapped her fingers and Omega Red extended his tendrils and slipped them into an opening at the top of the chamber where Jean floated. They coiled around her waist and neck and began to twist her in opposite directions.

"...What are you doing? Are you... are you crazy?! I... I won't give in! I can't! Not for anything! I won't do it!" And then the green fluid became red. Jean opened her eyes, startled to find herself being twisted inside the tank. She saw her father outside in chains.

"Dad... daddy, what..." Omega Red began to pull harder. Jean tried to force the tendrils off, but found that her telekinesis had been nullified. Somehow, in its red state, the fluid allowed consciousness but kept the subject paralyzed. "Ah! Stop it! No! Daddy, help me! He... AAARGH! PLEASE, STOP! STOP! I'M BEGGING YOU, STOP!"

"Stop it!" Mastermind yelled. "Stop! I'll do it! I'll do it!" Omega Red released Jean and retracted his tendrils. Mastermind broke down on the floor, tears running down his face. "...I'll do it..."

"That was cruel," Stryker said to Viper sarcastically.

"Thank you, father, I am quite proud of my success." Sabretooth escorted Mastermind back to his cell and Jean's chamber turned green again. "Now our little plan is underway."

"Good, at least we are getting results. I'll let you and the old man handle the details for now, I have service tomorrow morning. Perhaps you should attend sometime. You could benefit from the teachings of the Lord... and some modesty."

"Please, father, I am above such concepts." Stryker scowled. "You know as well as I do that God is a simple lie to keep the peasants in line, religion is a joke. But it is quite funny. I have seen your interviews, you are quite the comedian."

"Yes, funny indeed," Stryker said with every hint of anger in his voice. "You worry about your little science projects, and I will worry about the 'simple lies' and keeping the peasants in line." 

"I would watch my tone, father," Viper snarled. "Remember that I know some of your little secrets." Stryker scowled and left the room with the X-Cutioner. They walked through several halls in silence until the reached a hangar where a small jet waited.

"Shall I punish her for her insolence?" the X-Cutioner asked in his raspy voice.

"No. We still need her to do her work behind the scenes. We will deal with her after this is done." They boarded the jet and were soon on their way back to Ireland.

What does Viper want Mastermind to do, and is it so horrible that he would actually consider allowing his own daughter to die if it meant not doing it? Is Stryker still a man of faith, or is it just a facade? And speaking of which, why is the X-Cutioner following him around? Who IS the X-Cutioner?


	6. The Legal System at Work

Okay guys... sorry it took so long. Christmas break hasn't been as smooth as I had hoped. Before I begin, I need to clear up something you (yes, YOU) brought to my attention.

Beast was captured by Omega Red off-screen and brought in to fight. When did this happen? I don't know, off-camera or something. That was actually a goof on my part... so we'll just see this is what happened.

Anyway, this is the turning point in the story. After this, things won't be the same. Oh, and excuse the grammar.

****

Chapter Six - The Legal System at Work

Wanda Lehnsherr, no longer dressed in her X-Men uniform but in a red suit and skirt, appearing more presentable to the crowd of reporters gathering outside the front steps of the Xavier Institute. She was flanked by Amara and Jamie, dressed in normal clothes. Magneto had suggested he take them with her both to present a "cute" front and to show the reporters that there were students willing to stay at the Institute.

"Ms. Lehnsherr," a blonde man yelled over the crowd. "What measures are you taking to prevent another attack?"

"Additional security systems are being installed as we speak. We are in the process of hiring full-time security guards as we speak."

"Is that where your father is?" a redhead woman asked.

"Yes. Mr. Lehnsherr is currently meeting with potential employees as well as security specialists. We expect the staff to increase over the next month."

"And what of the students left at the school? Why have their parents not pulled them out?"

"Their parents trust us with the safety of their children. Following mutant disappearances around the country, the parents of our remaining students and many of the unfortunate victims felt that the Xavier Institute provided the best possible protection for their children. Many have expressed concern over the safety of their children had they remained at home. The assailant has also been connected to the murders of various mutants in their homes, and in one case, he even went after a mutant in a maximum security prison who had avoided the death penalty. The question isn't whether the Xavier Institute was secure enough, but how dangerous this man is."

"Some of your critics believe that if your father had been home during this attack, it could have been prevented. Where was he and could this have been prevented?"

"My father was away on business. I am not at liberty to discuss that matter, but I assure you that it has been put on hold in order to deal with the immediate threat presented last week. At this point, whether or not Mr. Lehnsherr could have stopped this man cannot be determined. The unnamed assailant used technology that could nullify mutant powers in immediate areas and none of our staff was able to do anything about these weapons."

"These weapons, they sound a little too advanced to be real. With all due respect, how could such technology exist."

"I'll tell you how," a brown-haired man in a blue suit said. He wore silver-rimmed glasses with a blue tint on them. He had a two-man camera crew with him, which was more than any of the others had. The major news networks had their own cameras stationed from their vans, but this man seemed to be with an investigative news show. Wanda was quite familiar with the man named Ed Kelly, host of the sensationalist "The Bottom Line" television program. He had a smug look on his face that only a top-rated TV show host could wear. His crew pushed through the crowd and made way for him. "This fine institution has been here for almost twenty years, and the first class was taught by only four instructors: Mr. Lehnsherr, his close associate Ms. Darkholme, a Mr. Wyngarde, and a fourth man whose real identity has never been made public, a man going by the name of Forge." Wanda raised an eyebrow. This wasn't looking good.

"I assure you, Forge has-"

"You're such a sweetheart, let me finish," Kelly said, switching between false sincerity and low-toned deviousness. "Forge's mutant ability was quite interesting... he could take metal parts, a few wires, maybe part of a tape recorder and he could make advanced machinery, things like robot probes, laser guns, hovercrafts, anti-hex force fields," Kelly said the last one rather pointedly, referring to an incident that occurred back when Wanda was still a student, "and maybe, just maybe... a mutant nullification device."

"We have no reason to believe that Fo-"

"Then who else would create such technology? Independent laboratories? Why they'd need a cowload of funding! Who else? Maybe the government? Now why would the government create technology to hurt the very people they've spent millions of dollars trying to protect? Could there be some holes in this conspiracy theory?"

"...What conspirac-"

"And now you're denying it! These are your X-Men! Liars, hypocrites and CHILD-KILLERS!"

"If Forge did build these devices, we had nothing to do with it. We haven't seen or heard from Forge in almost ten years. We don't believe Forge would create weaponry that could be used against his own people, and we don't believe Forge is involved in any way. All we know is that this assailant is well-trained as an assassin and has access to weapons and devices outside of known technology. We are working with the police to find this man and bring him to justice." Without saying another word, Wanda walked back into the Institute with Amara and Jamie, ignoring the further questions being asked by the reporters outside. 

"There you have it!" Kelly said. "The X-Men are denying the only logical evidence in this case, and with more and more disappearances across the country, the X-Men are concerned only with their own safety! These so-called defenders of peace and justice have turned their backs on the people, and that's the Bottom Line! And... cut. Good stuff. Let's go, boys."

Once inside the foyer, Wanda leaned against a wall, sighed, and rubbed her face.

"Are you alright?" Jamie asked.

"I...I'm fine. Just a lot of stress, that's all. Jamie, Amara, get back to the dorms." They nodded and left. With the meetings taking place inside the Institute, guards had to be placed at the dorms. Robert Drake, Colossus, Kurt and Pyro had volunteered, and with Pyro guarding the girl's dorm, Amara was more than happy to return. Checking the time, Wanda rushed down the hall.

-------------------------------

"And... just... allow me to sign this..." Senator Gyrich said. He was seated at a desk in his office, signing a document legalizing freedom of religion, somehow unaware that such a law was already in effect. The senator signed his name and handed it to his smiling young female assistant.

"I hope the others agree to this," she said.

"I'm sure they will. It looks like I'm finally doing good work here. Who will accuse me of being corrupt after this?" The senator's assistant smiled and took the document out of his office. Suddenly, the office changed. Senator Gyrich wasn't in his office, but in his bedroom, sitting on his bed. His wife slept behind him... but he was just in his office, wasn't he?

Outside of the senator's bedroom, the mutant illusionist Mastermind handed the document to the X-Cutioner.

"He has signed it," Mastermind said reluctantly.

"We will move on to the next house, then." Senator Gyrich noticed a flash of light under his door. He rushed out to see what was happening, but there was nothing there.

"Heh... strange." Gyrich returned to bed.

"Honey, what's wrong?" his sleepy wife asked.

"Nothing, just imagining things again... too much time at the office, that's it. Too much. We'll go to the park tomorrow with the kids."

-------------------------------

"All's quiet here," Robert Drake said into the radio. He stood with Colossus at the entrance to the boy's dorm, each keeping their eye on a different end of the hallway. Robert Drake was dressed in a blue outfit, though it could barely be seen through the icy layer he had covered himself with. Colossus still wore his blue-green armor, and crossed his arms. "How about you guys, you doing fine with the ladies?"

"Peachy," Kurt growled. He leaned against the wall in the hallway where the girl's dorm was, watching as Pyro talked to someone inside. "This guy's too busy flirting. I have to watch all sides myself."

"I'm not flirting, plushy, I'm just checking in on the girls to see if everything is alright." Kurt heard Amara giggle and rolled his eyes. "Hmph. Looks like I got my hopes up for nothing. This girl giggles at any idiot who shows her any concern. Drake, you want to switch places with me or what?"

"No."

"I hate you." 

"So what's Brazil like?" Pyro asked. Amara sat on her bed close to the door, giggling.

"Well... it's nice... and warm..."

"Warm? Aw, hell no, I like a hot climate. None of this warm stuff!" Amara giggled again. Kurt slammed his head against the wall. "It get hot often in Rio?"

"Very," Amara said. "But the weather is always nice..."

"You two are giving me induced heatstroke," Danielle groaned. 

"There's no problem if we're just having a nice chat now," Pyro said. "So Dani, where are you from?"

"Doesn't matter," Danielle sighed. "If they were to shut this place down, I wouldn't have anywhere to go."

"Aw, come on now, you've got to have some family."

"I had a grandfather, but he had a heart attack a few years ago. Now there's nobody." Danielle noted the silence in the room. "What about you, Pyro, do you have any family?"

"Nah. Had a dad, he went and hanged himself after some real nasty writer's block. Mum died when I was two... had a sister, she got some disease, died before I was even born. Life's a huge tragedy." Pyro ignited his left flamethrower and created a smiley face. "That's why you gotta balance it out. Just keep smiling." Danielle couldn't help but smile at the fiery face.

"You're so funny, Johnny!" Amara squealed. Danielle's momentary smile disappeared and she rolled her eyes again. "Hey, when this is all over, we should go to Brazil! I'll show you around, I know everyone in Rio! My mom would just love to meet you!"

"Sounds like a plan, Amara. Hey, maybe we could bring Darkholme and his sibs along, they'd enjoy it!"

"Well, I meant just you and me..."

"Oh, brother," Danielle groaned.

"Just you and me?" Pyro asked, confused.

"It's more romantic that way!"

"Romantic...?!"

"Sure, I'm your girlfriend, aren't I?"

"GIRLFRIEND?!" Pyro jumped so high, Danielle could've sworn he almost hit the ceiling. "Listen, Amara, you're cute and all, but I've got about three years on you... you're still a minor, I mean-"

"...She thinks you were kissing her," Danielle explained. "You know, when I accidentally shut her down."

"Afraid not, l-" Pyro stopped himself from saying 'luv,' fearing it would only complicate things, "-little lady, I thought you needed some CPR, and it turned-"

"Sounds like there's some trouble in the foyer," Kurt said to him. "I'm gonna go check it out."

"Er, no, how about I handle this? Yes? Sounds like a plan, thanks mate!" Pyro zipped out and ran down the hall.

"Hah," Kurt said. "Hey Amara, if your offer is still open, I'd like to see Rio!"

"Great!" Amara giggled. Danielle groaned and buried her head under a pillow. 

"Hey, false alarm, it was just Lance and Cannonball goofing around," Robert said over the radio. Pyro had already disappeared. Kurt shrugged.

-------------------------------

The war room was lit only by the red holograms of the captured mutants projected from the central table. Magneto stood at it, controlling the mechanical hologram projectors himself. Seven chairs were set along the table, usually reserved for the X-Men, the largest of which was reserved for Magneto himself, and next to each chair stood another representative from each party, a sort of right-hand man there to assist their leaders in any way possible. Clockwise sat Mystique with Scott standing next to her; Warren with Lance Alvers; Storm with Evan; Nick Fury, a commanding officer in S.H.I.E.L.D. with a nameless subordinate; Callisto, with Jubilee; and quickly joining the meeting was Wanda, though Toad had been filling her seat until that point. He quickly hopped off.

"...Why are you in my seat?"

"Just takin' notes for you. They needed someone, so I volunteered. My family's on the line here, I ain't sittin' this meetin' out." Pietro nodded to Wanda, standing next to Magneto as he spoke. Toad whispered a quick recap to her.

"The X-Men have lost Beast, Mastermind, Converse, Stalwart and Forge to them," Magneto summarized to the others. "Callisto has lost Arkady Rossovich, who we know has been brainwashed into serving our enemies. Warren and Ororo, none of your charges have been captured, though you will both be interested to know that Father Stryker is in league with these people. Sergeant Fury?"

Nick Fury stood up from his seat as Magneto sat down. The hologram projected was a basic layout of the base itself. Fury was an older, gray-haired man with a black eye-patch and a black jacket with the S.H.I.E.L.D. logo. He had to put his cigarette out before entering the Xavier Institute. "SHIELD Intelligence indicates that this base was used by Soviet forces before 1989, and since then fell into the hands of Hydra. Hydra has since been disbanded and re-formed, but we have no idea what this new organization is called or what their chief objectives are. Clearly, they've learned some tricks to keep our spies out of their camps. Though unconfirmed, we have reason to believe they are involved with the Pure Blood Movement started by Bolivar Trask..."

"...An agent of yours," Storm said coldly.

"Former agent. He split from SHIELD when he found that we wouldn't allow him to... act on his views. Since Trask's assassination, which I'll remind you remains unsolved, the PBM has been laying low, but not so low that we couldn't keep our eye on them. Though not openly connected with them, Father Stryker's views coincide with theirs, and we've seen increases of PBM activity in every city that he's stopped at during his world tour two years ago, after he officially renounced the pope and his views. We can't confirm his involvement, so we can't do anything about him, but if you can find me concrete proof that Stryker is one of the masterminds here, and nothing this organization has done has been big enough to warrant SHIELD attention. Until we can officially link the Pure Blood Movement, Stryker, and the remnants of Hydra, then we can finally identify this organization and give you a hand driving them down."

"You need proof? I thought you had more power than that," Storm scoffed.

"We're still a government organization, so we're still under some bureaucrat's thumb. I can give you two squads and two heli-jets, but until you guys can give me the proof I need, that's all I can offer."

"Your help is appreciated," Magneto said. "We will divide our forces into two main teams, each containing a SHIELD squad and a troop of mutants at the helm. Ororo, I trust you can provide us with a... third team."

"I could," Storm said slyly. "But I'd like to know what I get if I agree to all of this."

"Come on, isn't stopping these mutant-killers enough incentive?" Callisto asked.

"Of course not. If I'm going to be putting my boys in danger, I'd like something more than moral reward." Evan crossed his arms. "I'll name my prize. Any new technology we find, I can keep it and... patent it."

"You've always been so selfish!" Callisto yelled.

"And you've always been naive!"

"Enough!" Magneto roared. "Ororo, you will have claim over any technology not created by Forge. The rest of you, name your prices."

"I don't need one," Callisto said. 

"Nor do I," Warren agreed. He glanced at Callisto, who rolled her eyes and then looked away.

"I want Stryker's head," Mystique said. The room grew silent and everyone stared at her. "I want to be the one who finishes him. My children are at risk, and I want to make sure that he won't threaten them again."

"Are you saying the rest of us couldn't do that?" Storm asked.

"No, I know what you, Warren and Callisto are capable of. I trained you, after all. But this is war. We have no room for error, and I'll sleep easier if I KNOW Stryker is dead." Scott nodded, as did Toad. "I will go with you. Whether my children will go... they're old enough to decide for themselves."

"I'm in," Toad said. "My dad and sis are there. I'm gettin' 'em out of there."

"I'll talk with Kurt and Marie later," Mystique said.

"It will have to wait," Kurt said, teleporting in on the table. Magneto deactivated the holograms.

"Kurt, why aren't you at your post?" he asked.

"Relax, I got Gambit to cover for me. I have news, the worst kind. Turn to CNN." Magneto turned on a large screen behind him and tuned it to CNN. A news reporter stood outside the White House, explaining the situation inside.

"...This bill has been signed through, and despite its sudden appearance and lack of prior introduction, it has all the right signatures, so to speak. There is nothing against a bill being passed in this fashion, and unfortunately, this one is now a law. Again, the main focus of the law is that it disallows mutants any of the rights granted to residents or citizens, relegating them to the status of game animals... this is just horrible, folks... mutant hunters now have carte blanche to mock, taunt, murder, lynch, slaughter any mutants... this is just unprecedented, nothing like this in American history..." Magneto slammed his fist onto the table and the walls of the war room rippled with magnetic energy.

"This... I don't..." Magneto looked up. "FURY! You knew about this!"

"I didn't, it's just happened! You heard them yourselves, this wasn't even presented in congress, it was-" Fury was pinned against the wall by his own chair, now broken into fragments securing him there. His own gun and the pistol held by his aide floated before him, each barrel pointed between his eyes. "Magneto, we had no idea! We-"

"...The senators all recall signing some sort of bill, but none of them remember this specific one," another reporter said, talking to the anchor. "Strangely, they all remember suddenly being back in their homes and offices, as if signing the bill had just been a dream. Some believe this may be the work of a mutant, but this makes absolutely no sense. Why would a-" The screen exploded. Panels were ripped off the wall and hurled around the room, forcing everyone to duck for cover. Toad jumped over a metal panel and Scott blasted it away from him. Storm kept them away from her with a strong, localized wind.

"MASTERMIND!" Magneto screamed. "THE TRAITOR!"

"Wait, wait, hold on a minute!" Toad pleaded. Magneto's fury continued, and he had to hop around to avoid flying objects. "You see what's going on? They take Jean, they already had my father, they blackmail him! They're still in charge!" Magneto calmed down.

"...I should have seen this..."

"I'll see what other information I can get on this," Fury said. "These bills always have different clauses. We might be able to use that..." Fury stopped for a moment, listening to someone through an earpiece. He removed it and placed it on a small socket on the hologram table, connecting it to a speaker for the others to hear.

"Additionally... wow, get ready for this... all sovereignty is hereby handed over to the acting Supreme Hydra..."

"No..." Fury said in disbelief.

"Any known mutants are to be taken to special facilities... that's it. They fucked us over. Viper's got a dictatorship, mutants are fucked, all in less then two hours."

"There has to be SOMETHING we can do!"

"I'm afraid not. We've got everyone looking over all the constitutional laws, maybe there's a loophole we can find and exploit, but it looks like Viper found a loophole herself. It's got all the right signatures, they've all confirmed that they signed it, it's too late to be vetoed... they can try to appeal to the courts, or try passing a bill canceling this one, but since Madam Hydra's in control, it won't make any difference, because if we can't find a fault in the bill itself, she can just dismiss any action to cancel it out with a new one... assuming she decides to let congress stay."

"We'd better prepare for the worst," Fury told his allies. "Hydra's probably going to take over SHIELD, so I'm going to try to rally as many of them to our side before all of this is over. We'll get to work figuring out how to deal with this mess and get things back to the way they were. The mutant hunters will want blood, but eventually, Hydra will find a way to get in here, but until you can find a way to leave the country without trouble, you'll all have to stay inside."

"They wouldn't dare touch me," Ororo said. "We're officially withdrawing from your little team-up and resuming business."

"Ororo, are you insane?!" Callisto cried.

"Now that it's illegal to be a mutant, where will they all turn to? The underworld. There's money to be made." Ororo stood up and walked out of the room, followed by Evan. He lingered a bit, looking back at everyone with a look of reluctance, and left.

"Warren, Callisto, Mystique... you are welcome to remain here, until this is all cleared." 

-------------------------------

"Brilliant," Father Stryker said to Viper. "Truly brilliant. Were your plan not so underhanded and deceptive, I would applaud it. I could do without this little immorality you call entertainment." He sat with Viper and the Professor in the White House. The former president had been stripped naked and forced to dance for their amusement. After a few minutes, Viper called for the guards to take him away, and Mastermind was brought to them by the X-Cutioner.

"Ah, Mr. Wyngarde, the man of the hour," Viper said. 

"I did it. I did everything. Now you give me back my daughter."

"Petty old man, you didn't expect me to actually keep my end of the bargain? You don't watch enough movies, darling. Take him to the cells, make sure he's locked and... ah... er...?" Viper found herself suddenly in a cave, surrounded by wolves. "What in... where is everyone? How did I..."

"Illusions!" the X-Cutioner yelled. Viper somehow snapped out of the illusion, and Mastermind had already started running down the hall. The X-Cutioner drew a nullification blaster and fired it, but Mastermind rolled and dodged the laser blast. He turned back and waved his fingers. The X-Cutioner was at the zoo for a moment, but then the illusion faded. Mastermind was nowhere to be seen. The X-Cutioner looked up, then to his left, and fired another beam weapon through a wall. Mastermind, outside the White House, had barely dodged the attack, and after fooling the X-Cutioner into thinking he was on a blimp, he jumped over the fence and ran down the street. The X-Cutioner jumped out of the hole in the wall.

"You can't hide, mutant..." The X-Cutioner burned a hole through the fence and jumped through, pushing his way through the crowd of protestors. He realized that the crowd was too much for him to move through, so he decided to cut it down. He jumped off the head of an older man and over the crowd, hurling small razors in various directions. An old woman, a young man, a red-haired teenager, a black businessman, a rotund man, a woman with a third eye- they all fell, their blood flowing from their necks and onto the streets. Noticing them, the thinning crowd made way for the X-Cutioner. "There you are!"

With Mastermind spotted running across a street several blocks away, the X-Cutioner reached for another razor... but he was out. He had wasted them all on the crowd. Suddenly, he was at the zoo again. The X-Cutioner snapped out of the illusion just in time to jump as a car nearly hit him. Hopping off the roof as it passed, the X-Cutioner activated his teleporter device and appeared just four feet from a very surprised Mastermind.

"No sin will go unpunished," the X-Cutioner intoned.

"Oh?" The X-Cutioner was again trapped in an illusion, now finding himself standing on a raft in the ocean. Once it was over, he saw that Mastermind had hopped onto the back of a bus. The X-Cutioner reached down to his belt, but his teleporter device had been taken. Mastermind waved to him and disappeared in a white flash. 

The X-Cutioner was not angry. He was, however, fearful. He reluctantly returned to his superiors.

-------------------------------

"So this is the way it's gonna be," Robert said to Lance and Kate in the cafeteria. Their leader was still elsewhere with Magneto. Further down, Kurt, Rogue and Toad were having their own conversation. "We're going to stay here until they can figure out how to get us out of this mess."

"Why did this have to happen?" Kate asked. "Things should be like they always were... are we all going to die?"

"Do you have to be so damn negative all the time?!" Robert yelled.

"Back off!" Lance yelled back. Elsewhere, Kurt and Toad were having some sort of struggled. They teleported onto the table between Lance and Robert. "Gah?!"

"Let go, Toad!"

"It's for your own good!" Toad finally managed to pull a syringe away from Kurt, though his grip failed him and it sleep out of his hand, sliding over to Kate. She looked at it. Lance watched her nervously.

"Whoa, what is that stuff?" Robert asked.

"Legacy," Toad said. His tongue pulled it away from Kate's reach and he put it in his hand. "Something like a super-anti-depressant, to put it in simple terms. Storm has people who make the stuff, Evan gave me the lowdown on it."

"How dangerous is it?" Lance asked.

"First few shots, it's like a happy little wonder drug. About five or so, the addiction kicks in. It's made like that, it's got some chemical that gives you a permanent addiction after a certain amount. Tabitha and Gambit deal the stuff, but I dunno if they do it themselves. It's made Storm a lot of money."

"Look, one little dose isn't going to hurt," Kurt bargained. "You said it takes five, I'll stop before then!"

"I said five or so, I don't know what the exact amount is!"

"I'll take that," Jubilee said, joining in. She took the needle from Toad and it exploded in a multi-colored burst. "No more of that."

"Awww..." Kurt whined. "That cost me a bundle!"

"So how do you guys feel about all this?" she asked. They all muttered responses, all negative. They felt it was an obvious enough answer that they didn't want to waste energy giving a formal reply. "Well, thanks for the encouragement."

-------------------------------

Ed Kelly stood at a desk in a television studio, holding a stack of papers. The story about the X-Men and the X-Cutioner had been quickly discarded in favor of a new angle that would guarantee viewers. Kelly swore that he couldn't get a story this good if he had sold his soul to the devil himself, assuming the network allowed such a transaction. 

The studio hand signaled to him. "Five, four, three, two..."

"Hey folks, I'm Ed Kelly and that's The Bottom Line! If you're not glued to your chairs, do so now, because you won't want to miss what we've got for you tonight! A list of identified mutants and their places of residence! Now, you may think this is a little cruel, but in light of a recent change in American policy, we are legally allowed to do this!" Kelly chuckled to himself. "In Sacremento California, the West Park Boarding House, run by Callisto Guccione," Ed winked at the camera. "If that's her real name! Currently residing in her household are Jubilation Lee, or if you prefer, the wonderfully sickening nickname 'Jubilee', an old Kentucky boy named Samuel Zachariah Guthrie, a reformed Russian criminal named Arkady Rossovich- but don't get your hopes up, he's already been claimed by government sources- as well was three unidentified mutants, seen here." Images of Berzerker, Scaleface and Torpid were displayed. 

The West Park Boarding House was empty when the rioters arrived. A man with a crowbar forced the door open and led the others through, with bats, clubs, chains and pipes, bashing everything inside. Lamps were shattered, tables broken, curtains shredded, windows bashed out.

"There's nobody home!" one of them yelled after the mob had made their way to the rooms.

"Then we won't leave them a home to come back to!" The kitchen and bathroom cabinets were raided and all sorts of cleansers and solutions were thrown around the house. Someone tossed a match into each room and the rioters ran out, cheering and hollering.

"...proceed in alphabetical order then? You've got it!" Kelly continued reading off the list of known mutants. "...LeBeau, Rembrandt, from New Orelans..."

Somewhere in New Orleans, Jean-Luc LeBeau ran from a crowd in the dark swamps. "MUTANT LOVER!" the mob cried. Jean-Luc jumped on a boat, and sped away. He heard a clang behind him and then another, and then the motor stopped. A hole appeared near his foot, then a bullet pierced through his shoe. With his boat slowed down, three of them managed to catch up to him, each carrying three or four rioters, each armed with handguns and rifles. With his boat surrounded and sinking, Jean-Luc stood up. He wasn't about to go out like a coward. A rock hit him in the knee and he fell onto the floor of the boat. Only two minutes later, the boat was shredded and the water had turned red.

"...The man known only as Logan..."

Logan sat at a bar with his claws drawn. Nobody dared approach him.

"...Rasputin, Piotr, a Russian immigrant..."

The door of a very small apartment in New York was thrown open, with bullet holes surrounded the gap where the doorknob used to be. A man with a black leather jacket and a thick mustache led his men into the apartment. It seemed that nobody was home, so the man sent his men to look in every room. Under beds, inside closets, in the bathtub... there was nothing. Disappointed, the man called for his men to leave. Once they were gone, trapdoor in the bedroom, disguised by the carpeting, opened up. An older man with receding black hair looked up and stepped out, followed by a teenage boy who closely resembled him, his brown-haired wife, and finally, their little blonde-haired daughter.

"We must find Piotr," the man said in Russian. "It is no longer safe here."

"...Smith, Tabitha, who has an apartment in New Jersey..."

Tabitha Smith's apartment looked the same as ever, trashed and unclean. There was a knock on the door. Someone outside, speaking in a... "mellow" voice, asked her a question.

"Hey Tabitha... uh... you a mutant?" Tabitha was not home. He didn't get any answer. "Guess not. Just wonderin'. The purple monster on TV said you were... I'm gonna go lie down for a bit..."

"Not to mention our good friends at the Xavier Institute, run by Polish immigrant Erik Lehnsherr. Among his staff are his children, Pietro and Wanda Lehnsherr, Frederick J. Dukes, John Allerdyce from Australia, Dr. Hank McCoy and Jean Grey. Among the surviving students are Dorian Leech, Roberto Da Costa, Rahne Sinclair, Danielle Moonstar..." Kelly continued reading through the list. "Be careful, these mutants are all armed and dangerous... consider them all lethal weapons. These mutants are a threat to all of us, you, your family, and your children. They must be stopped at all costs, and that's The Bottom Line!" As the cameras stopped rolling, Viper approached Kelly at his newsdesk. "How was that? Outstanding, I hope?"

"Outstanding indeed, Mr. Kelly. You have done your country a great favor." Viper set down a small wad of cash. "Down-payment on your next job."

"Next job?"

"Yes. I want you to leave this little show of yours and move on to bigger things. I want you to anchor our news network."

"Anchor a news network?" Kelly idly thumbed through the bills. "Alright, alright, sounds good... which network would this be?"

"You will have CNN to yourself. We are doing a little... house cleaning at that network, and we are redesigning it a little. I hope there are no objections."

"Hmm, no, none at all," Kelly said, smiling as he counted the money he had just been given. 

-------------------------------

Kurt and Rogue stood on the roof of the Brotherhood of Bayville Boarding House, watching as mutants ran through the streets, fleeing from mutant hunters. The mutants came in all shapes and sizes, but the mutant hunters came in a greater variety of appearances: old, young, black, white, thin, wide, slobbish and well-dressed. Children were poking at a skinny green-haired man bleeding on the sidewalk. 

"Never thought I'd see this day," Rogue said. They watched as their mother, disguised as a regular human, walked into the Brotherhood house carrying a few papers with her.

"Mom has our documents," Kurt said. "Magneto and the X-Men are going to stay holed up in their metal house."

"What about everyone else?" Rogue asked.

"Callisto and her kids are staying with Magneto," Mystique said as she stepped onto the roof. "Nobody knows that Warren is a mutant, so he and his 'hired servants' are safe at home. Ororo has already isolated herself to the point that the government no longer has any reason to believe she actually exists, and her employees are staying with her until they can figure something out. Scott and Todd have decided to stay with Magneto as well. We haven't been outed yet, but we can't stay here."

"Where to then, Magneto's?" Kurt asked.

"No. I have other plans."

-------------------------------

"I'm not angry with you," Father Stryker said to the X-Cutioner as they boarded a private helicopter outside the White House. The X-Cutioner let his head hang low, detecting Stryker's lie. He raised it only to look up and see what was going on outside the gates of the White House as the helicopter took off: a chain gang of mutant protestors were being lead into black vans by military police in riot gear. More than a few of the mutants were bleeding, limping, bruised, or in some instances, missing limbs. One of the riot cops held the body of a young girl and tossed it aside when he saw one of the captured mutants attempting to use heat-rays from his eyes to melt the chains. The riot cop yelled something and three more rushed to beat the already bruised mutant.

"I could only affect him for so long," the X-Cutioner admitted, reluctantly. His voice was slower than usual and Stryker could detect every hint of the fear he tried to hide. "He had more experience."

"I know this, _my son_," Stryker told him, putting an almost sarcastic emphasis on the last two words, "But let's forget about this. He served his purpose and we don't need him back. Madame Viper's men will be screening all the mutants they've captured, and you won't have to risk yourself once we've gotten rid of them all." Stryker looked out the window over the darkened city Washington, D.C. Fires had broken out across the city, and lights from various buildings and street lamps had been destroyed. He could see a riot squad suppressing a mob of protestors at the front lawn of the Washington Memorial, and smiled as he saw the mutants weren't getting up after the riot squad made their way to them. He held a pewter crucifix in his hand, rubbing it as if letting go of it would cause everything to return to normal. That was the last thing Father Stryker wanted. "The Lord has blessed us, my son. Today, we have overcome His enemy's children. Tomorrow, there will be nothing left of them. Only the pure souls will see the sun's light again, and only the pure souls will see His light when their time comes."

After a moment of silence between them, the X-Cutioner nervously asked, "Are you going to kill me, father?"

"Yes." There was nothing in Stryker's voice that indicated that he didn't mean what he said. He answered the X-Cutioner's question as if he were answering a question about the weather or the color of his hands. The X-Cutioner's head hung even lower than before. There was another moment of silence.

"I am glad to have served you, father. I am glad to have carried out the Lord's will... in penance."

"Don't flatter yourself. You're spawn of the devil, no matter how many of your brothers you help destroy, your fate will be the same as theirs. If it's any consolation, your suffering may not be as great... but I can't guarantee anything."

"Yes, father." The X-Cutioner let his head fall into his hands. He lived his life in constant fear of the fate Father Stryker promised he would eventually meet, but his loyalty to the priest did not fail. Even if Stryker ultimately hated him for what he was, he gave the X-Cutioner more respect than anyone else had, and to him, that was greater motivation than even the word of God.

Well, this is awkward. Democracy turned to Fascism?! Viper running the show?! Ed Kelly taking over CNN and anchoring an entire news network? Where will Mystique and her kids go? The X-Cutioner, a mutant-hunting mutant?!

Tune in next time... SAME X-TIME, DIFFERENT X-CHANNEL!


	7. Dreams Are Just Dreams

I'm sure you've all heard the news concerning X-Men: Evolution's future, but I won't miss the show. Why not? The show is not dead. As long as the fans keep it alive, the show will live on, even if no new episodes are produced. This story will continue, as will my other Evo fics. The fan community needs to keep the show alive, and I'll be doing my part here, for what it's worth.

Now then.

Bwahahahahahahahahahaaaawwwwww, crap. Looks like I've dug myself into a hole again. Even with a slight decrease in characters, I've got too much stuff to cover. Oh, and excuse the grammar.

****

Chapter Seven - Dreams Are Just Dreams

The mob gathered around the gates of the Xavier Institute, but didn't dare go inside. The few that had jumped over the wall had been shot by the automated defenses and their bodies remained there as a reminder. 

Magneto sat in the war room, watching a holographic display of the United States. Red dots covered the white map, showing places where mutant hatred was highest. Wanda, Pietro, Warren and Callisto said nothing. 

"Charles... you were a fool..." Magneto whispered to himself. 

The room was once again silent. 

"...We have a visitor," Wanda said after a few minutes. A screen showed someone at the door.

"...Mastermind." Magneto waved his hands, and the front doors opened. "He must have used his powers to convince the humans that he was one of them..." Magneto paused. "...And used an older code to deactivate the defenses!" The screen showed humans pounding against the doors. Magneto used his power to keep them closed. "Wanda, re-activate the defenses."

"...But..."

"DO IT!" Reluctantly, Wanda typed a code into her console. The humans on-screen were shot down by the automated cannons. Across other screens, they saw that the humans were running from the Institute. "Now, de-activate them." The crowd had re-gathered outside the gates. Seventeen humans had been killed, and many more injured. "Experience is the best teacher."

"Erik... Magneto," Mastermind said, having found his way to the war room. "Magneto... I'm sorry..."

"Are you?" The war room doors were pulled away from the wall and pressed against Mastermind like a sandwich. "Do you realize what you've done?!"

"I do... Erik, I don't blame you for your anger, but please, let me speak..."

"You've done enough, Jason. Your actions had consequences, and for that, you will be punished."

"Kill me if you have to, but I need to tell you..."

"Tell me what? That humanity has turned against us? That the government has turned their back on us? That Xavier was WRONG?!"

"...I have seen Viper's mind... there is something worse planned, and if you're quick, you can prevent it!"

"What, Jason? What could possibly be worse than this?"

"She is creating a weapon..." the doors tightened on Mastermind. "She's... capturing mutants to power it... Cain, Arkady, Sabretooth... Jean... they're being used!"

"Used for what?!"

"Viper's mind is too... well-trained for me to see everything... but she's somehow going to harness their mutant powers to power a weapon that will destroy all mutants..." The doors flew away and Mastermind dropped to the floor. Callisto and Warren helped him to his feet, though Callisto didn't put as much effort once Warren started lifting.

"Where are they now?"

"At the White House... the others are being held elsewhere."

"Pietro, get in contact with Fury. We'll need maps."

-------------------------------

"Once again, the government is offering a reward for any live mutant brought in. Rewards vary by mutant, but you are guaranteed at least six-hundred dollars if the mutant is brought in alive. Coming up next, 'Worship Today' with Father Stryker. I'm Ed Kelly, join me again tonight at six for a review of today's events." Ed Kelly left his new, larger news desk as the cameras turned off. CNN had become the PBN, the Pure Blood Network. Father Stryker was in another studio, prepared for his nightly propaganda program which drew surprisingly high ratings.

"Kathy, where's my latte?" Kelly asked.

"Ahem," Viper said.

"Ah! Madame Viper, good to... see you..." Kelly said nervously. Viper was flanked by two of her green guards. The last time she had come to see him, she had wanted Stryker to have his own show. Kelly refused to allow it, claiming ratings would drop, but she... insisted. Since then, Kelly had been more than a little intimidated by her. "W-what can I do for you?"

"You put out the notice on my bounty, yes?"

"Yes, Madame."

"Good, good... now I want you to tell them on your six-o-clock show that we will offer up to eight-thousand for any telepaths."

"Eight-thousand, Madame?"

"Are you hard of hearing, Mr. Kelly? You heard me correctly. Now get back to your coffee-drinking, or whatever it is you 'celebrities' do in your free time." Viper walked away and Kelly's assistant handed him his latte. Irritated, he threw it against the wall.

"What made you think I wanted coffee? I asked for bottled water!"

-------------------------------

"Disgusting habit," Storm's insect servant said to her as they watched Gambit inject legacy into his arm. Storm had returned to the underground club where she did business, though few mutants cared about drinking and watching fights when they were too busy running for their lives. Only a few of her usual entourage were with her, including her insect-like servant and her enforcers.

"Disgusting it may be," Gambit said to them, "But it gets me through the day." 

"We can't hide here forever," Evan told his aunt. "They'll find us eventually. We need to fight back."

"We can't. Not until we know what we're really dealing with."

"Come on, you can just make a blizzard and nobody will fuck with you!" Tabitha protested.

"I'm not about to give myself away so easily," Storm snapped. 

"I think it's time you tell us why you're so afraid to use your powers," Evan said, almost threatening. Gambit and Tabitha both looked up, likewise curious. Colossus stood with his family in a corner, not particularly listening to them. Storm looked back at Evan and her pupils disappeared. Evan backed away. "I... uh..."

"I'll tell you, Evan. Do you remember that facility I had you infiltrate? The X-Men were there, too. They hold powerful mutants there, to study them. You said Cain Marko was there? That's why. If they needed him for his power, they would have used him openly by now, along with the others. He's not a weapon. He's a lab specimen."

"What do they need him for?"

"I don't know. A few years after I left Magneto's little club, they came after me."

"This is why you won't show your face in your own club, isn't it?"

"Yes. They have spies everywhere."

"How do you know Tabby and Remy aren't spies?"

"If they were, I'd have been captured. They're very direct, whoever they are." Gambit tossed the needle into a garbage can and rolled his sleeve back down. He took a deep breath, shook his head, and smiled at Tabitha, who seemed to be somewhat ill.

"C'mon, girl, what's eating you?" Tabitha didn't reply. She was sweating and her skin was pale. "Tabby?"

"Something's wrong with her," Evan told his aunt.

"Of course something's wrong with her, she's been shooting herself up too frequently." Tabitha's eyes blinked and she collapsed. Evan quickly picked her up and set her down on a nearby couch, fanning her with a magazine. "Let her rest. She'll be up in a few hours."

"Are you sure?" Evan asked.

"When have I been wrong, Evan?" Storm scolded. Evan swallowed and continued to fan Tabitha.

-------------------------------

"'Whoever hates me hates my father also,'" Father Stryker read from his Bible as the cameras rolled. "'If I had not done among them the works that no one else did, they would not have sin. But now they have seen and hated both me and my Father. It was to fulfill the word that is written in their law, 'They hated me without a cause.'" He closed his Bible and the producers cued a hymn as the closing credits rolled. Stryker stepped away from the altar that had been fashioned in the set, exchanging quick greetings with members of the crew as he left. He walked down the hall, escorted by the X-Cutioner, who carried his blades with him and a new device attached to his belt. As Stryker reached his dressing room, he was approached by Viper. The X-Cutioner stopped him, then whispered into his ear. He shook his head, whispered something back, and continued. Her green guards were stationed at the end of the hall, with two more at the opposite end. The doors at either end were closed.

"Father Stryker, a most moving show tonight," she said half-heartedly.

"Your sarcasm is not appreciated here, Madame Viper."

"Father Stryker, I have a small favor to ask of you... guards, leave us!" On her order, the green guards left the hall, closing the doors behind them. Now they guarded the doors themselves, ensuring that nobody entered or left without their notice.

"I hope it doesn't involve murdering another innocent."

"No, but your... ward's services will be required. Nobody can get into the Xavier Institute, and we must use his... skills to enter and kill the remaining mutants inside."

"Interesting, Madame... I was unaware that you cared for such things."

"What do you mean?"

"You want mutants captured, don't you? You said you had something planned for them, something to wipe the rest out using their own power... yes?" Viper stared at him, confused. She was trying to think of something to say.

"Yes, well... NOW!" In a burst of smoke, Kurt and Marie Darkholme appeared in the room. The X-Cutioner threw his blades at them, but Rogue ducked and Kurt teleported out of the dagger's range, appearing behind the X-Cutioner and wrapping his black tail around his neck.

"What...?! MUTANTS!" Viper changed back into Mystique and kicked Stryker in the chest. "What are you doing?! Defend me!" As soon as he issued his command, Rogue pressed her hands against his face. He struggled and tried to push Rogue away from him, but he grew weak and limp. When it was all over, Mystique took the unconscious Stryker into his dressing room. Kurt flew across the hall and nearly hit the doors. The X-Cutioner picked up one of his knives, muttered a quick prayer, and thrust it towards Rogue. Kurt appeared behind him in time to pull him back and force his blade to drop. The X-Cutioner pressed forward with all his strength and grabbed Rogue by the neck. In a cloud of black smoke, all three disappeared. "Stryker" walked out of his dressing room and waved his hand around his face to disperse the smoke. Quickly, he ran to the door.

"Guard, guard!"

"Father Stryker, what happened?"

"A teleporting mutant appeared, he kidnapped Madame Viper and disappeared!"

"Check every square foot of this building!" the lead guard announced. As they ran, "Stryker" became "Ed Kelly" and ran to another studio. 

-------------------------------

The X-Cutioner appeared with Kurt and Rogue on the roof of the PBN building amidst satellite dishes and other equipment. The hooded X-Cutioner took a small pipe-like object from his belt and extended it. It was his favorite weapon, his bladed polearm. He took a stance, holding the staff behind him with the blade pointed at the ground.

"Mutants... your day has come. Nothing you do can change your fate. Surrender yourselves, or this will be very painful."

"We're not here to listen to you," Rogue yelled. "We're here to take you down!" 

"Then I have no choice but to send you to your fates." The X-Cutioner twirled his weapon to gain momentum and swung it at Rogue, who dropped to the ground and kicked him in the shins. Her move didn't work as well as she had hoped and he remained standing. Kurt bamfed between them and took Rogue out of harm's way. Annoyed, the X-Cutioner thrust his razor-sharp blade into the base of a smaller satellite dish. The dish began to fall precisely on the spot where Kurt and Rogue appeared a moment later. Quickly, Kurt teleported once more.

"How did he know where we'd be?" Kurt asked as he appeared outside the tumbling dish's range with his sister.

"I don't know, but I intend to find out." Rogue tossed her gloves aside. "Come on, tough guy! Show me what you've got!" The X-Cutioner jumped at them with his blade forward. Kurt rolled along the ground and threw the dagger he had stolen from him earlier at the X-Cutioner's shoulder. It cut through the black cloth of his sleeve, revealing something neither Kurt nor Rogue expected.

"His skin! It's gray!" The X-Cutioner landed and looked at his wound. Blood was slowly leaking out of the incision, but he was more worried about his exposed flesh. While he was distracted, Rogue jumped on him and pressed her hand against the open wound. Her fingers were covered in the X-Cutioner's blood and she slowly drained his power. The X-Cutioner started to weaken, but then, Rogue stopped. Her contact with the gray skin suddenly had no effect. Taking advantage of Rogue's distraction, the X-Cutioner punched her in the face and kicked her off. 

"Bastard!" her brother screamed. He teleported towards the X-Cutioner and reappeared... twenty feet away. He teleported again, but reappeared in the exact same spot. "Wha...?!"

"He's canceling our powers!" Rogue said. "Get that thing on his belt!" The X-Cutioner kicked her once more and knocked her into a wall and out of consciousness.

"You just made my fight a lot easier!" Kurt said to him, no longer having to worry about watching out for his sister. Kurt ran at his enemy with his tail whipping behind him. He lunged at him, but the X-Cutioner blocked him with his staff, pinned in the ground and holding Kurt up. With his tail, Kurt took the device on the X-Cutioner's belt and then jumped away. The X-Cutioner stood up, but waited for Kurt to make the next move. "Say goodbye to your little toy!" 

Kurt pressed the red switch, and disappeared in a white flash. Under his hood, the X-Cutioner smiled to himself, and he put his polearm back on his belt. Now all that was left was to dispose of the girl and return to see if Father Stryker was alright...

"Three more..." the X-Cutioner said to himself. Three new opponents had arrived. He turned to face them, not surprised at what he saw. "You three. The ones I missed."

"That's right," Berzerker said. He stood with Torpid and Scaleface, all three survivors of the Morlock massacre. "You think you can take all three of us?"

"I took hundreds of you at once." The X-Cutioner extended his bladed staff. "You will be no challenge." The X-Cutioner rolled under an electric burst unleashed by Berzerker and then jumped over the wave of fire sent down at him by the transformed Scaleface; she was no longer a young girl, but a monstrous green dragon. Scaleface tore a satellite dish from its bolts and threw it at the X-Cutioner, who jumped onto it and ran across it, staying upright, and then jumped off and at Scaleface's head. She returned to her human form, removing his target and leaving him open for a blast from Berzerker. He dropped to the ground and shook his head.

"You're stronger than before..." the X-Cutioner muttered in surprised. Without warning, Kurt appeared behind him once more, this time with his own black cloud. 

"That was a dirty trick!" He yelled. The X-Cutioner caught Kurt's fist and threw him at Berzerker. Scaleface again transformed and stomped on the X-Cutioner, who proved too quick and thrust his blade upward, slicing the back of Scaleface's right arm from the wrist to the elbow. She returned to her human form, and the wound was not so severe, but she was still bleeding badly. Berzerker rushed to her immediately, ducking a swing from the X-Cutioner's blade, but unable to avoid the blunt end of the staff that hit him right on the spine and knocking him on top of Scaleface.

"Two to g-" the X-Cutioner didn't allow himself to finish before he turned around and stabbed Torpid's shoulder, pinning her against the door leading to the stairs. She had been trying to sneak up behind him. "You can't do that, little girl. I know where you are. I always know."

"How can you be so cruel?!" Scaleface screamed angrily.

"Lesser forms of life... spawn of the devil! I will send you all back to the fiery pit you crawled out of, and you will not crawl back to the world of light again!" Keeping one hand on his staff, the X-Cutioner took a disc from his belt and slammed it on Kurt's chest, who had just appeared behind him. Kurt was completely surprised and didn't even realize what had happened before the disc released an electrical charge that knocked him out. He pulled his blade from the bleeding Torpid's shoulder and threw her against Berzerker and Scaleface, then took the teleporter device back from Kurt. The door she had been pinned to opened and two green guards stepped out, followed by Viper and four more guards.

"Good, you've made a mess of our rooftop," she said. "The shapeshifter has been captured and Father Stryker is waking up."

"These mutants are at your mercy," the X-Cutioner told her.

"Yes, yes. We only need the one with the tail. Get rid of the others." Two guards took Kurt and carried him down the stairs. Viper followed them, and she was followed by the remaining guards. The X-Cutioner looked at the bodies around him. He extended his polearm once more and walked over to Torpid. His weapon was pulled away from him.

"What? I..." The X-Cutioner looked up. 

Magneto had arrived. 

The X-Cutioner's own blade flew at him, but he teleported just in time. Magneto landed near Torpid, Berzerker and Scaleface.

"Wounded..." Four metal spheres landed on the rooftop, and metal tentacles gently picked up Torpid, Berzerker, Scaleface and Rogue and took them inside. The spheres then flew into the distance. Magneto pulled the stairway access door off its hinges... only to find the X-Cutioner waiting behind it. The door Magneto was carrying dropped. "Nullified..."

"If you wish to save your charges, you would best leave." Magneto realized that with his powers shut up, the spheres were falling. He ran from the X-Cutioner, who tossed a disc at him. He had stepped far enough out of range for his powers to return and he deflected the disc, and then lifted the spheres, now several yards away from him.

"This isn't over," Magneto announced. He flew off the roof after his spheres. The X-Cutioner pressed the red button on his teleporter and disappeared.

-------------------------------

Pyro idly tossed a rubber ball against the wall of the foyer in the Xavier Institute. Despite the chaos in the rest of the country, Pyro couldn't help but feel incredibly bored. He was still holed up in the Institute with several other people he hardly knew. The only people he really knew were Pietro, Wanda and Scott, and Pietro was busy in meetings with Magneto, and whenever Wanda wasn't with them, she was hanging around with Scott, and they wanted to be alone. There were the younger students, but Amara had gotten creepy. Drake? Drake was too stupid. Alvers? Too ignorant. Pryde? Too easily hurt. 

That just left Toad and Jubilee. 

The ball bounced out of Pyro's range, towards Toad.

"Toad, mind getting that for me?" Toad's green tongue grabbed the ball out of the air and set it down in Pyro's hand, slimy and wet. Pyro looked at it, then at Toad. "I've asked you not to do that."

"...Well none of this would have happened if you weren't so self-absorbed!" Callisto screamed further down the hall. Pyro and Toad glanced at each other, then at Jubilee.

"Just having another fight with Warren," Jubilee sighed. Callisto and Warren walked into the foyer together, arguing. "Just don't ask them about it, and we'll get through this."

"Self-absorbed?! Callisto, I have a company to run, and whether I like it or not, being a mutant would have affected our stocks, we could've gone bankrupt if everyone knew about these!" Warren motioned to his wings.

"So you show them to us?!"

"I didn't turn my back on you, a lot of Magneto's funding comes from me!"

"Enough, both of you!" Mastermind yelled, behind them. "The way you both argue over such minor things, I would have thought you were still kids running around these halls. There are more important matters. Callisto, your Morlock friends left the Institute earlier and managed to get themselves injured."

"What?!" Callisto started running, but Mastermind stopped her.

"They are fine. They're in the infirmary, resting. You're among the only adults in this building, I expect you to behave like adults. Put aside your relationship problems and focus on the real issues."

"It's very hard to work with someone as selfish as Warren."

"And I can't work if I have her hounding me to fight some war against discrimination!"

"Hey! It doesn't matter anymore!" Toad yelled. He hopped to them before Jubilee could stop him. "Protest as much as you want, the government's fucked us over and there's nothing you can do about it... and your business is still around, but sooner or later someone's gonna find out you're a mutant. I think you two are just having trouble accepting each other's view, since you're got different styles of thought, but it's clear there's enough common ground for you to have a nice, healthy relationship." Callisto and Warren stared at him. Mastermind was quite surprised. "What, just 'cuz I'm sixteen doesn't mean I don't know anything."

"He's right," Warren said. "Callisto, it's not that I don't agree with your views, I wanted mutant equality as much as anyone, but it's just such a hard business, I would lose business if people knew what I was... and then I wouldn't be able to give back to the school that gave me so much. I'm sorry, Callisto." 

"Warren, I've just been so caught up with all this racism, I didn't really think about why you were letting all of that happen." Callisto put her arms around Warren's neck. "Warren, I'm sorry..."

"There," Mastermind said. "Everything is better. Honesty and communication are the keys to a healthy relationship."

"Thank you, Jason... and Todd." Warren and Callisto left for the control room, holding hands. Jubilee stared at Toad, dumbfounded. Pyro laughed to himself.

"...What just happened here?" Jubilee asked.

"Just a display of my son's inherited insight," Mastermind said. "It's good to be back, son."

"I'd hate to break up the moment," Pietro said, leaning on the wall. He had apparently been there the whole time. "But Magneto needs to see you in the infirmary."

"Well, alright. Come on, son."

"Whoa, hold it. Just you."

"I think my son can be trusted with whatever it is Magneto wants to hide."

"If you say so. Come on."

-------------------------------

"Just relax," Mastermind said. Rogue sat in her bed in the infirmary, with Mastermind sitting in a chair next to her, holding his hands close to her face. Magneto, Pietro and Toad stood a few feet away, watching. "This won't hurt." Mastermind's eyes emitted a pale blue light and Rogue could see nothing else. It was nearly a half hour until Mastermind had gathered what he needed and shaped it into a coherent pattern.

"What did you find?" Magneto asked.

"Nothing. Stryker and the murderer don't know any more than we do about Viper's plan... but there are other things I learned..."

"Tell us."

"Stryker... he was an altarboy back then. He was just a boy when the father... did things to him."

"Like we didn't see that coming," Toad muttered. Pietro rolled his eyes.

"Stryker never told anyone... eventually, he was ordained, but before he began preaching at the cathedral, in Donegal, he traveled to other churches. Twenty-six years ago, he met a young woman who had joined a convent... the most beautiful woman he had ever seen... and seeing his memories, I agree. She was like a living angel... he wanted to be with her, but they were bound by their oaths. He talked to her about it, said they could keep it a secret... she didn't feel the same way about him..." Mastermind paused, slightly depressed.

"Well?" Magneto asked.

"...He... snuck into her room and..." Mastermind winced as he recalled the memories he had seen. "He... forced himself..." Mastermind paused. "Anyway, he never told anyone about that either... he told her that if she told anyone, he would find her and kill her. A few months went by before he heard from her again. She was carrying a child, and she could no longer hide it. The nun had told people she had been raped, but she claimed not to know the assailant. She gave birth to a gray-skinned child... a mutant." Now Magneto had grown interested. Mastermind was hesitant.

"Go on."

"Stryker couldn't live with the fact that his own seed had produced a mutant. He felt he was being punished by God... in order to atone for his crime, he felt that he should kill the 'demon' and devote his life solely to the Lord. He planned to meet the nun again, but she was lynched by a mob, for giving birth to a mutant. The other nuns had kept the child safe, and Stryker convinced them to allow him custody of the child." Mastermind exhaled. "He took the boy and wrapped him in a blanket, and on his way back to his cathedral in Donegal, he stopped in an alley in Dublin. He was about to stab the infant, but a homeless man saw him. He instead stabbed the homeless man, but his screams brought attention to the alley. Hearing people coming to investigate, Stryker quickly opened a manhole and dropped the child in... when the people arrived, he told them that the man had assaulted him, and that he took the knife and killed him in self-defense. They bought his story, and nobody knew about the infant... nobody there knew he had been carrying the boy with him. When he returned to his cathedral, he came up with a story for the nuns, and said that he had left the boy in the care of an orphanage. To cover his tracks again, he..." Mastermind paused again.

"Out with it."

"...He sealed the doors to an orphanage in Dublin, and locked everyone inside... nobody could ever know that he never left the boy there..."

"He locked it?" Magneto asked, slightly confused.

"Yes... and then he burned it to the ground. Nobody escaped the fire..."

"He has a darker heart than I could have imagined."

"...The boy was found in the sewers by... I'm not sure who. The boy's memory is too faded for me to see that face clearly... but he was brought to the United States soon after... and placed in a normal orphanage until..." Mastermind's eyes widened. "...Until he was rescued by a white-haired man..."

"...No... he's..."

"He is... he was trained by you, Magneto... your fifth recruit, trained by Mystique, Forge and myself... and then... he betrayed us... he nearly cost me my life... he was responsible for putting me in that coma... he was the one who cut Hank... who... resented Warren... and... plucked Callisto's eye... who initiated Ororo's cynicism..."

"No, this can't be... I was sure he died."

"You were sure I died, too... oh my God... I knew he had thoughts... but I didn't know he was capable of mass-murder..."

"So he was behind the Morlock attack."

"Yes... seventy-six... and then the deaths here... and several more murders at the request of his father..."

"How did he come back into Stryker's service?" Magneto asked.

"I don't know... it's another face, a different one... I can't tell who it is, it's blurred... but he trained him further... even enhanced his mutant abilities... now he could hide from mutant detection... he could nullify powers at will... and his father was reluctant to take him back... both memories of this are blurred... someone must have blurred them on purpose... and he will do anything to gain the approval of his father... and his father still hates him for what he is, but feels that he is useful for now... a tool." Mastermind closed his eyes. "Magneto, we must tell the others."

"No. They can't know, especially not Callisto and Warren. Their emotions will blind them. This information does not leave this room. Wipe it from Marie's memory. I will assemble a team to deal with Caliban." Magneto walked out the door. Pietro and Toad exchanged concerned glances as Mastermind erased Rogue's memory.

-------------------------------

Wanda Lehnsherr stood in the war room with Magneto and a handful of others. The hologram on the table displayed an image of the X-Cutioner.

"You have been assembled partly because my own team has been cut down in size, and partly because you have all proven yourselves capable of handling this mission. The Scarlet Witch will be leading this mission, but if anything should happen, command will be given to Pyro."

"Oh man, Pyro?!" Scott Darkholme complained. Scott had traded in his civilian outfit for a black outfit, standard among the younger X-Men recruits. He had added silver shin guards, forearm guards, and a chestplate, taken from some of the spare outfits.

"Yes, Scott, Pyro. Now, your objectives are simple. You are to get inside this building and bring back Stryker, dead or alive. I want Caliban alive. If you can't manage that, then do what you must." The team nodded. Pyro stood by Scott and Wanda, and Jubilee next to him. She had been given a black suit as well, though the only thing she added were silver boots and shoulderpads. Todd Wyngarde was crouched on the war room table itself, just a few feet from the hologram itself. He had also been given an X-uniform, with similar armor additions, plus heavier boots and thick gloves. Danielle Moonstar wore the same standard training outfit she usually did, for this mission, she had add a purple scarf. The final member was young Dorian Leech, dressed in his regular training outfit. "In addition, I want at least one of you to keep an eye on Leech at all times. He is of tactical importance, but he lacks training. Remember: Stryker must be dealt with, but I don't care how you do it. If you don't kill him, bring him here. However, I want Caliban alive. In the meantime, I will assemble a separate team to deal with... other matters." The hologram disappeared, and the briefing was over. 

"Good times, Darkholme," Pyro said to Scott. "About time you join us."

"I'm not an X-Man. I'm just here for Wanda. This Caliban guy... he was the fifth student?"

"Yeah. I wasn't here yet when he did his little thing and screwed everyone, but from I'm told, it was terrible."

"The incident forced my father to increase the defenses around here and install security systems," Wanda said, walking next to them. "He was almost ready to quit after what happened, but he decided to keep the dream alive... for the sake of his children."

"I'm going to die, aren't I?" Dorian asked suddenly. Everyone stopped. "We're all going to die, aren't we?"

"No," Pyro said. "Only way we'd die is if we fail, and we're not gonna fail. Tell you what, stick with me, mate. I'll keep an eye on you, make sure nothing happens to you."

"Thanks Pyro, but no."

"No?"

"Maybe I need to grow up a little. I can't hide behind you guys all my life." Dorian continued forward, and after a momentary pause, the others followed him to the hangar.

Caliban? That's right, the X-Cutioner was really Caliban. How many of you saw that coming? So that brings the original class up to Storm, Callisto, Angel, Beast and Caliban. So, how about that Stryker, evil man or what?

Anyway, those of you who've read AoA:AR, here's some trivia for you:

Alternate Reality: Caliban has a mansion in Ireland as part of a deal he made with Apocalypse. 

Legacy of Apocalypse: We learn that Caliban is himself Irish by birth, the illegitimate son of Stryker. 

What's up? That's right, in AR, the cathedral was demolished and the surrounding area landscaped to form Caliban's estate. Woohoo!


	8. Through the Eyes of Caliban

This one is mostly a flashback. We'll get back to the action afterward, but now that Caliban's been revealed, I think it's time to reveal his involvement in a few of the running sub-plots. Oh, and excuse the grammar.

****

Chapter Eight - Through the Eyes of Caliban

The sun was brighter than usual that day. The temperature outside had been higher than it had been in twenty years, so it was understandable that the students protested the daily outdoor exercises. Reluctantly, the instructors had agreed. There were five students lined up in the foyer of the Xavier Institute after their lesson in the gym, dressed in form-fitting black outfits, all identical. Warren Worthington was the first, a young man who stood to inherit billions, and due to this, was rather carefree and unconcerned with little things. His blonde hair was long and wild, and his costume had to be slightly modified; two holes were made in the back to allow his feathery, bird-like wings to fit through. Though he rarely lived up to his namesake, he was codenamed Angel.

The second was Hank McCoy. He was the oldest of the group, being a college student, but few noticed it. He was large in size with hands and feet larger in proportion to the rest of his body. He didn't wear gloves or boots with his uniform, but his black hair was neatly combed. The Beast was the smartest of the group, but easily the least mature.

The third was a young girl named Ororo Monroe, born in New York but raised in Africa. Her cloud-white hair worn slightly past her shoulders contrasted with her dark skin, but only added to her exotic beauty. Though mature and level-headed, Ororo was a pessimist and having the most powerful gifts among the students, could be a little arrogant. The others joked that she was always trying to run the show, but in all honesty, none could think of a better leader among them than Storm.

The fourth was a black-haired girl named Callisto Guccione, a kind but idealistic girl who preferred talking to fighting, though her powers lent themselves far more easily to the latter. Callisto wore her hair short, but this didn't take away from her beauty. The boys in the group were almost as willing to follow her as they were Storm, but they all agreed that though Callisto believed in her ideals and would fight to the end to defend them, she didn't always make the best decisions. As a statement to her idealistic nature, she refused to be branded by codename.

The fifth member of the team was a tall, lanky man known only as Caliban. His skin was gray and by all appearances, he looked like the living dead. Caliban had been raised in an orphanage and suffered much abuse for his mutant appearance. A small amount of kindness would ensure that Caliban became a friend. However, his days of tolerating the cruelty of others were over, and Caliban could be vengeful and almost cruel himself to his enemies. He lamented that his mutant power didn't lend itself very easily to combat. He longed for a power that could be useful to him, something that would make him truly feared. The others felt that Caliban took the first part of the codename Bloodhound a little too seriously.

That day, the team assembled before the team of instructors. Raven Darkholme, codenamed Mystique; Jason Wyngarde, codenamed Mastermind; and the man known only as Forge. Mystique and Forge wore outfits similar to those of the students, only with plates of silver armor attached (a tradition which would continue to be upheld by future X-Men instructors), though Mastermind was more comfortable wearing a cheap suit.

"Okay, class," Forge said. "Good work today. Beast, you need to work on your speed, and Bloodhound, your weightlifting skills are slipping. Other than that, I have no complaints. Class is officially over, you're all free to run out and get yourselves killed." The students scattered, chatting amongst themselves and telling each other about their plans. "Okay, you two, Magneto wanted to see us after class. I hope it doesn't take long, I want to get to work building that big gym Xavier designed." The big gym, of course, would later be called the Danger Room.

"I'm glad you're all here," Magneto said, standing in an early version of the war room. The table in the middle of the room had no hologram projectors, nor consoles, and the walls were rather bare, awaiting installation of the many monitors and switches that would eventually occupy them. Magneto had already begun to wear his traditional outfit when he founded the Xavier Institute. "Especially you, Jason and Raven. I wanted to discuss the possibility of your children developing mutations."

"I'm sure it will happen," Mystique said. 

"Yes, your children have a good chance of being born with the X-Factor gene. I wanted-"

"To discuss enrolling them at the Institute? I had thought about this. Call me a hypocrite, but I'm not sure I would throw my children into all of this. I'm not sure these kids are ready for this."

"There is always room for improvement, yes, but I want you to see this from the perspective of someone who knows what goes on here."

"Erik, this Institute is still in the experimental stages. Half of those kids still don't know what they're in for, and I'm not sure this training will be all too successful."

"She may have a point," Mastermind said. "They're growing frustrated with the training. Ororo still has little outbursts. What if, in her frustration, she were to decide against her training and use her gifts against humanity?"

"I've considered that possibility, Jason, but I'm sure it won't come to that. If at least three of our students graduate from their training, that will be enough to keep the Institute open and begin recruiting for the next class, which may very well include your children."

"You know, all this talk of kids," Forge interrupted, "I don't have any, so I'm gonna go work on those designs." Forge left the room, a little dejected. Mystique watched him go, knowing why he felt that way and wanting to comfort him. She turned her attention back to Magneto.

"...I am going to enroll both of my children here," Magneto said. "I'm considering adding dorms and keeping our students here full time."

"Here? It's too... cold," Mystique said. "Metal walls don't make for a very friendly environment."

"I have faith in our abilities as teachers," Mastermind told them. "I have faith on the kids' abilities as students. I'm willing to stay on the faculty for another class, and if either of my children develop mutant abilities, I will consider bringing them here."

"Thank you, Jason..." Magneto raised his hand. A small metal flask drifted out of Mastermind's jacket and into Magneto's hand. "But if you're going to be a member of my staff, you should keep your habits outside."

"I'm sorry. I really can't help it... you know how hard it is to raise two children alone..."

"I know it as well as you do, but I don't look for short-term solutions to my stress." 

Elsewhere in the city of Bayville, Warren and Callisto sat on a park bench, watching pigeons eat bread crumbs thrown out by an elderly man. Warren's wings were hidden by a heavy coat that helped conceal them.

"...Not that I need to worry, I've got billions coming to me."

"You're so immature," Callisto smiled.

"Callisto, Warren, I didn't expect to find you here," Caliban said to them as he strolled by. "It's hot. Aren't you bothered by that coat?"

"No, not at all," Warren said nervously. Callisto eyed Caliban cautiously.

"You seem to be sweating. Are you sure it's no trouble?"

"I'm fine, Caliban, thank you for your concern," Warren continued angrily.

"Callisto, is the heat troubling you? I was on my way to get a snowcone, perhaps you could join me?"

"No thank you, Caliban," Callisto declined politely.

"Suit yourselves. But it is awfully hot for an overcoat." Caliban continued on his way. Warren scowled at his back.

There was a knock at the door of the Wyngarde residence two days after the staff meeting. Mastermind lived in a small house in an older suburb of Bayville, a three bedroom house with only one story and no garage. Mastermind had been sitting at his chair in the living room, reading a newspaper while his young son Todd, no older than five, jumped around with a toy airplane. His seven-year-old daughter Jean was yelling at him to stop being so annoying. She was not actually a Wyngarde; Mastermind had adopted her shortly after the death of his wife. 

"Daddy, there's someone at the door," Jean said.

"I'll get it." Mastermind set his newspaper down and went to answer the door. Mystique stood there, her usual blue skin changed to a normal tone. "Ah, Raven, welcome." 

"Thank you, Jason. I brought the kids with me." Mystique had her own children, Kurt and Marie, ages five and four respectively. Todd ran to them, happy to see his friends, and together the trio ran off to play. With nothing better to do, Jean followed them, if for no other reason than to make sure they didn't go into her room and touch her things. "Jason, we need to talk about the students."

"Caliban."

"Oh? You know, then?"

"Yes. He was almost attacked yesterday. I went into his mind briefly when he ran back to the Institute."

"If you've been in his mind, you know what he plans to do."

"No, I didn't see any immediate plan to do anything."

"He bought a gun yesterday." Mastermind put his hands to his chin, concerned. "I'd tell Erik, but I don't think Caliban needs his brand of discipline right now. I already talked to Forge about this, and he agrees that we need to have a talk with Caliban outside the Institute."

"I doubt he would listen to us. He's seen the dark side too many times. Maybe Callisto can talk him out of this?"

"That won't work. If Callisto pays more attention to him, he might get the wrong idea, and when he sees her with Warren again, it'll all have been wasted. It needs to be us... you, Jason. You've been down that road."

"...And I don't need you to remind me. I can't say I regret doing it. I gave them what they deserved." Mystique shifted in her seat. Mastermind looked out the window, then at Mystique. "Look at me, Raven. I'm not a handsome man, I know that. She knew that too, but she didn't care. She loved me for who I was... there are so few people in this world who are as kind and accepting as she was. What kind of men kill a woman like that, just because she's married to a mutant? They weren't men at all, they were the monsters. I don't regret what I did."

"But Caliban didn't lose anyone. He's frustrated. He doesn't want justice or revenge, he wants to respect, and if he can't have that, then he'll settle for fear. He doesn't have the benefit of being able to fool others into seeing other things, he'd be putting himself at greater risk."

"I'll talk with him," Mastermind reluctantly agreed. He stared at the floor for a few moments. "Where are my manners, you're a guest in my home. Would you like something to drink? Coffee?"

"Coffee would be nice." A few minutes later, Mastermind returned with a cup of coffee. He had brought a bottle of whiskey as well. "I... Jason, are you...?"

"I just need a little confidence, that's all." Mastermind took it straight from the bottle. He set it back down on the coffee table and wiped his mouth with his sleeve. Mystique looked at the bottle and noticed that it was half empty.

"Jason, you need to stop this," Mystique said sternly.

"I don't need to stop anything. I can make anyone see or feel or smell or see or taste or touch or see anything, but it doesn't work on me. I can't fool myself into believing it, so this is what I have to do." Mastermind took another swig. He hadn't noticed that he'd said 'see' three times. "So how are the kids?"

"Jason, give me that!" Mystique took the bottle away from him. "What's the matter with you? You have two children! What kind of example are you showing them? It's been three years, Jason, it's time to move on!"

"I have moved on, I just need a refresher every now and then... hell, you have to know what this is like, you're a single parent, too... come to think of it, you never said anything about your husband, or whatever he was... their father and all... so you never tell us anything but you still like to judge me..."

"Again?!" Jean screamed, walking into the living room. "Daddy, you promised you would stop!"

"It's not a habit or anything... I just need to relax, that's all..."

"You promise and promise and promise but you don't want to stop! I'm tired of this! Don't you care about us anymore?"

"Of course I care... who are you to tell me I don't care?! YOU THINK YOU'RE BETTER THAN ME?!" Jean ran to her room, crying, and slammed the door. Mastermind was too tired to get up, and too tired and drunk to stop Mystique from dumping the rest of the bottle's contents down the sink in the kitchen. He grumbled to himself.

"Callisto, have you ever thought about ending it all?" Caliban asked in the locker room after a training session. He was putting his uniform away and Callisto had just finished changing in one of the stalls. 

"What?"

"It's the same thing every day. We're mutants, they're not... they hate us for it, want to kill us for it. Have you ever thought about getting them first?"

"Of course not," Callisto said, clearly disgusted by the idea. "I want us to be equals. Neither of us should kill the other."

"You're naive, but you won't let go of your principles. I like that." Callisto shrugged and put her uniform away. Warren was waiting at the exit, and she ran to meet him. Caliban stayed behind, watching them.

Forge was sitting in one of the offices, tinkering with a small radio. Caliban walked in and took a seat without saying a word. Forge looked up, a little surprised. "Hey. What's up?"

"Forge, where was Mastermind today?" Though he wasn't very close to any of the teachers, Mastermind was the one Caliban could relate to most. Neither was particularly attractive, and Mastermind had offered Caliban some guidance and gave him confidence about his appearance.

"He's out sick, nothing to worry about."

"He can't be sick. I saw him driving this morning. Where is he?"

"I'm gonna level with you," Forge said, looking out into the hall to make sure nobody was coming, "But you have to promise me you won't tell anyone. Anyone."

"I promise."

"His daughter ran away from home last night. He's been running all over town trying to find her. Magneto's helping him out."

"I can help," Caliban said hopefully.

"Sorry, buddy, but she's not a mutant. At least, if she turns out to be one, we won't know for a while. They're looking for her the old-fashioned way. 

"There must be some way I can help."

"Sorry, but they're doing all they can. There's not much any of us could do."

"I see... thank you, Forge." 

Ororo idly twirled a cloud over her head as she lay on the roof of the Xavier Institute. She didn't feel like going home, so she decided to hang out there. The sun was hiding behind some clouds, but she didn't have enough control over her powers to do anything about that. Caliban appeared on the roof after her cloud dispersed.

"It's a gloomy day," Caliban said to her. 

"I'd fix that, but I need some more of this training Magneto keeps talking about. I hope that big gym Forge is working on is finished soon." There was a moment of silence between them. They rarely talked, but Ororo felt it was a waste not to make some conversation. "So what's going on, Caliban?"

"Ororo, do you ever wish you were born normal?"

"Never. I'm happy with who I am. Is something wrong?"

"I can't hide from them. When they see me, they know what I am. I can't even defend myself. A little boy threw a rock at me this morning. I didn't think people so young could be so hateful."

"You're better than them."

"Better than humans?"

"No, better than those who judge you by your appearance. I'm glad you haven't stooped to their level. Believe me, even I've thought of doing that."

"You, Hank, Callisto... few see you and know that you are mutants. I am obvious. Warren... he can do both. He is mutated like I am, but he can hide in plain sight. He's not a good person, but he has so much more than I do. Why?"

"He's not a bad person, Caliban, he's just a little snobby. He doesn't hate you."

"But he does. He treats me like I'm nothing. I try to be his friend, but he doesn't want me to."

"Just give him time. We're all still getting used to this whole mutant thing." Ororo made another cloud. "But don't let other people bother you. Just be yourself."

"Thank you, Ororo. You are a good friend." Caliban smiled, and Ororo returned it. "Ororo, would you like to have a hamburger with me? I mean... as a friend."

"Sure."

"Fascinating," Hank said, standing in the control room of the unfinished "big gym" a week later with Forge. None of the metal compartments had been entirely finished, so they were left open with tons of mechanical equipment exposed. Magneto was in the gym itself, moving equipment around with his mutant powers. No console had been added to the balcony control room, but blueprints and random electrical equipment were laid out on the counter where the console would eventually sit. Forge's right arm was in its toolbox mode, though he wasn't doing anything in particular with it, instead looking over the blueprints. "Forge, I've never seen anything like this."

"It's nothing yet. We're still in the first stage of it, with basic robotics. We still need to get the lasers up and running, then we've got the advanced robotics, the hologram generators, and I'm trying to get Magneto to agree to a gravity changer and a nullification device."

"A nullification device? To prevent us from using our powers?"

"Yeah. You might get into some situations where your powers won't do you any good, so I think we need to work on some basic non-powers training, keep you kids on your toes."

"I see... when will this be completed?"

"We're hoping to get it done in about four months, but we'll need to run trials on it and test out the equipment and all of that should take... oh, about a year." Magneto drifted up from the gym onto the balcony. "I've got most of the specs for that hologram machine up here, I just need to put it on paper."

"Good. Hank, would you like to see the arms in action?"

"Oh, absolutely!"

"Flip that switch to your left."

"To my left, right... there's nothing-"

"Your LEFT."

"Oh, sorry." Hank flipped a switch on the counter and the arms below began to move- some smashed the floor with their weight, some cut into the air with blades, some tentacles whipped around at invisible targets. "This is all so remarkable... but it seems a little dangerous for teenaged students, don't you think?"

"What's going on in here?" Ororo asked, walking in. "What in... this is what you're going to pit us against?"

"Your gifts will help you." Magneto flipped the switch and the arms all returned to their uncovered compartments along the walls. "You won't have to worry about this just yet."

"Right, I look forward to practicing in the big bad danger room." Magneto considered her words for a moment. "I thought you guys were out looking for Mastermind's daughter."

"We found her. She's staying at a friend's house, and refuses to come home. Her friends' parents think it's best that she stay with them until Mastermind can keep his habits under control."

"Poor girl," Ororo said. 

Caliban watched Warren walking across the street near a fairly crowded shopping center. He was accompanied by Callisto, on their way to get something for Magneto... Caliban hadn't been asked, so he didn't know what it was.

"They are weak," the man next to Caliban said. His face was concealed under a baseball cap and sunglasses, as well as a high-collared jacket. "They're as bad as the humans."

"They can't be so bad. They are my friends."

"Are they? What kind of friends treat you like this? They don't think any more highly of you than those roaches who threw things at you. Look at yourself. You're hideous. Look at the Angel, the winged man. He's a handsome man. Callisto is gorgeous. They can at least pretend they are human. But you? No, you can't even hide, like they can. Everyone on this street knows what you are. Everyone on this street hates you for it."

"I don't want to be a mutant."

"It's not your choice to make. Those mutants want to live with these creatures. They're lesser mutants. Not like you and I."

"I want to live with humans. I don't want them to hate me."

"They will always hate you, and they will always hate Warren and Callisto, when they know what they really are. Why would they ever accept you? They won't. You'll never earn their respect, and the only other way out of this is fear."

"I know... I want to, but I don't..."

"You're superior to them. It's your right. You should be able to do whatever you want with them. It's not their decision anymore, it's not their world. We're going to decide things from now on, and you will be the first."

"I will." Caliban drew his gun from his pocket and aimed it forward. "I won't be the freak." Caliban pulled the trigger. The bullet hit a telephone pole where Warren was walking, and startled, he dropped his coat, took Callisto, and flapped his wings. "He will."

"IT'S A MUTANT!" A man below screamed. Before the crowd became rowdy, Warren flew out of their sight.

"Now is your chance, Caliban. They're not watching." A smile grew across Caliban's face. He aimed his gun at the crowd, and the smile widened. 

Magneto, Forge, Mystique and Mastermind arrived at the scene an hour later wearing their street clothes. Mastermind created the illusion of four police officers. "Let me through, Bayville Police!"

"Sir, this is a tragedy," a younger officer told Magneto, who was disguised as the lieutenant. "Ten dead, seventeen injured."

"How did this happen? Do you have any leads?"

"We have a witness, but he's frightened." The officer led them to Caliban, who cowered under a bus stop bench. 

"That will do, Jason." They changed back to their real appearances, startling the young officer. Mastermind knelt down to Caliban, who shook uncontrollably, his eyes wide and alert.

"Caliban, what happened here?"

"Someone tried to kill Warren and Callisto... they flew away... I was walking out of the restaurant, and they attacked me... some people came to defend me, I don't know who they were... and everything went out of control..."

"Search his mind," Magneto ordered.

"I won't be able to. He's in shock, his mind will be confused and sensitive, if I go in, it may damage him. What he needs is medical care and some time to calm down."

"There he is! He's the one who did it! Filthy fucking mutant!" They turned around to see a man on a stretcher being taken away. "FUCKING MUTANTS ALWAYS START THE FIGHTS!"

"We'd better-" Mystique stopped when she looked back under the bench. "...He's gone. Jason?"

"I'm on it... I don't sense him anywhere..."

"Fucking mutants, you all deserve to die!" the man in the cap and sunglasses said to him. Magneto grabbed him by his collar. "Every last one of you!"

"Where is he?"

"I'm not telling you!"

"Forge." Forge turned his arm into its toolbox mode and fired up his drill. "You were saying?"

"They took him to that old warehouse on 23rd, they're gonna keep him there, then make an example out of him at town square tomorrow-" The moment he finished Magneto threw him onto the pavement. He lifted a car out of a nearby parking lot and reshaped it into a bowl-like shape. They all climbed in and were on their way.

"Thanks, Mystique," Ororo said into her cell phone. "Caliban got captured, they're on their way to get him back." She was in the foyer of the Xavier Institute with Hank, Warren and Callisto.

"I hope he's alright," Callisto said. "Why didn't we see him there? We could've picked him up before that riot started."

"I panicked," Warren said. "I didn't think anyone else was there."

"You could've at least taken a look around, it's not hard to spot him!"

"Callisto, don't blame me for this! If you had wings, you would've done the same thing!"

"Shut up!" Ororo yelled. "You sound like an old married couple. I'm going to go arm the defenses." Ororo left the others alone in the foyer. After a few minutes, the silence was broken when Caliban walked in, beaten and bruised.

"Caliban, you're okay!" Callisto ran to him. "We need to get you to the infirmary..."

"How did you get past the Institute defenses?" Hank asked.

"I didn't. I was here before they were armed."

"Oh. Then you must have been here for a few minu-"

"Hank, please, he's hurt, you can ask your stupid questions later."

"No, he's on to something," Warren said. "You had to have been here a few minutes, Ororo went to arm them." Caliban didn't bother answering his question. He took a rock he had concealed in his jacket and struck Hank in the head. Taking a switchknife, he jumped on the dazed man and started cutting into him. Warren pulled him off and socked him in the face. Angered, Caliban kneed him in the stomach and pushed him against the wall. While Warren was trying to recover, Callisto jumped on Caliban's back and tackled him to the ground.

"Get... OFF!" Caliban struggled, but he was pinned. He rolled with all his strength and pinned Callisto under him. "You disgrace yourself, Callisto.. you want to force people to accept you..."

"There's no reason they shouldn't!" Callisto replied, struggling against him.

"If we can't be accepted, we should save everyone who does, and kill anyone who doesn't!" Caliban punctuated his statement by stabbing his switchknife into Callisto's right eye, covering his face with spray of blood. He jumped off the screaming Callisto just as Warren had recovered.

"Caliban, you son of a-" Caliban kicked him in the face and knocked him against the wall. Warren elbowed him in the face and then punched him in the stomach. He took the switchknife Callisto had just pulled out and flew at Caliban.

"Hey, hold it, what happened here?!" Ororo screamed. Hank was unconscious, covered in longs, bleeding cuts, and Callisto was on the floor with a bleeding eye. Caliban was on the floor from Warren's beating and Warren hovered overhead, carrying a knife. "Warren, what in-"

"It's not what it looks like! It was Caliban!"

"Like hell it was!" Ororo created a strong wind that pinned Warren to the ceiling with a loud bang and knocked him out. She let him fall against the metal floor and went to check on Callisto. "Callisto, are you alright?"

"Ororo, no... Caliban..."

"What?"

"It was Caliban..." Ororo turned to the spot where Caliban was, but he was gone. She heard his footsteps down the hall and caught up to him easily and pinned him against the wall with her own strength and without much effort.

"Who do you think you are, Caliban?!"

"I'm a mutant, Ororo... they were, too. They wouldn't accept me... the only way to make things right would be to punish them for it... they got what they deserved!"

"They're still alive, Caliban!"

"No... the crowd on the street. It was me... Magneto went the wrong way and I came here..." Caliban kicked out of her hold and started down the hall. "It's too late!" he yelled back. "I'm starting a new life! I've made a deal with someone!"

"Who, exactly?" Magneto asked. Caliban slipped and fell on his back in surprised. Magneto was blocking his way. The panel on the floor rose and lifted Caliban up and pushed him to his feet. He was now looking Magneto in the eye. "You are going to pay dearly for this, Caliban."

"I don't think so." A quick and powerful headbutt knocked Magneto onto the floor. "I thought you were supposed to be powerful."

"I am!" Magneto yelled further down the hall. Caliban looked at the floor and saw only Mystique. The metal panels on the floor, walls and ceiling all flew in to contain Caliban. Mastermind stepped behind him and placed his hands on the sides of Caliban's head.

"Mastermind... what are you doing?"

"I'm going to see what you've been up to, Caliban."

"You're going to stun me, aren't you?"

"When I'm done, yes."

"I thought you were different, Mastermind... you're like everyone else... you want me to be like all of you, you want to punish me for being superior."

"I assure you, there is nothing superior about you." Mastermind's eyes became blue and he concentrated. Caliban blinked. "Argh... egh... AAAGH!" Mastermind's eyes became white for a moment and he collapsed.

"That does it!" Ororo yelled. She created a wind so powerful that it tore a hole in the ceiling. The metal panels surrounded Caliban were pulled out, almost as if sucked out, by the powerful wind. Magneto took Mystique and Mastermind's hands, using his own magnetic power to keep himself grounded. Caliban held tightly to Mastermind's foot, struggling against the pull of Ororo's fury. The tear in the ceiling grew wider and the pull greater, and Caliban felt Mastermind's shoe slipping. It was pulled out through the hole and he quickly took hold of his foot, but then his sock slipped. He tried to grab Mastermind's bare foot, but the wind only intensified. Magneto was having a hard time just staying put. 

"Ororo, stop this!" Caliban cried. She hadn't even heard him over the howl of her wind. Her eyes had grown white with rage. Finally, the pull was too much and the wind took hold of Caliban, throwing him towards the sky. Ororo stepped into her own wind tunnel and flew up to the sky to meet him.

"I'm not done with you!" she screamed.

"Ororo, have mercy!"

"If you had any yourself, you wouldn't be here!" Ororo waved her hand towards the sky and clouds gathered above the twister that contained Caliban. Bits of metal from the shredded roof of the Instituted scraped him as they flew around him, leaving small but precise cuts everywhere on his body. The clouds above him darkened and flashed. 

"No, please! NO!" Caliban looked up at the growing storm and saw only a blue flash as a powerful bolt of lightning struck him, but didn't fade. The lightning raged on from the storm as if the storm's energy was focused entirely on him. His screams were drowned out by the crackling and booming of the air as the continued lightning burned it. The electricity was still surging down when Ororo was thrown back by a powerful explosion. Her concentration was broken and the lightning faded. The clouds disappeared and the wind stopped. 

There was nothing to cushion Ororo's fall. She had exhausted herself in her anger and could do nothing. With her last ounce of strength, she created a gust of wind to soften her landing on the cold, metal roof. When she did, she looked up at the cloud of smoke in the sky, all that remained of Caliban. She kicked herself for having trusted him. How could she have been so blind?

Four weeks had passed since Caliban turned against his allies. Forge had made a prosthetic eye for Callisto. It had worked as a bionic eye at first, but it just didn't feel right, and Callisto preferred just having one normal eye rather than two working eyes with conflicting degrees of fidelity. Hank's wounds had healed, though he now bore large, unsightly scars all over his chest and upper arms. Ororo, feeling that she couldn't trust anybody anymore, left the X-Men entirely. Mastermind had seen a short funeral and a quick burial. Jean Grey could not be reached to be invited.

"I know that this will be hard for you, Todd," Mystique explained to the orphaned Todd Wyngarde at the Brotherhood of Bayville Boarding House. "But your father had told me that if anything were to happen to him, I would be his first choice as a foster mother. It's the least I could do for him."

"Hey, what's Todd doing here?" Scott asked. Scott was Mystique's oldest, though he was adopted, and preferred to stay at home. At only nine years old, his eyes were becoming a red color, and so he already showed signs of a growing mutation. 

"He'll be living with us from now on, Scott."

"Fine by me. Come on, I'll get you all set up in your room." Scott led Todd upstairs. Todd seemed to bound up the steps. Mystique had to raise an eyebrow at that. Jean's current guardians had refused to allow Jean to live with her, and being a mutant, Mystique didn't think she had any chance in a legal battle. Until she was ready, Jean would live away from her brother.

It would be a decade before the truth about Mastermind's death was revealed. An outside force had protected Caliban's mind and shocked Mastermind's brain. He slipped into a coma, though this same outside force had used Mastermind's own power to make it appear as if he were truly dead. Mastermind was taken, and the coffin that was lowered into the grave was empty.

Some time later, Ororo's sister was killed during a robbery. Though the robbers had no idea she was related to a mutant, they were known mutant haters, and Ororo's distrust for humanity grew stronger.

There was no physical change in Caliban when he was exposed to the Cyttorak gem. In fact, he didn't feel any sort of change at all. He sat in a small white room with six other people, mostly scientists. One of them was Viper.

"How do you feel?" Viper asked.

"The same..." The same outside force that had surrounding his mind to protect him from Mastermind had teleported him in time to avoid Ororo's powerful lightning. He bore many, many scars all over his body, but he was otherwise unharmed. "What was I supposed to feel?"

"Change, I'd wager. Concentrate for me, would you?"

"I will..." One of the scientists scanned Caliban with a handheld device.

"Madame... it appears to have cured him."

"Cured? How can that be?"

"It's detecting no mutant life signs."

"I am... cured? But I look the same..." Caliban looked at his ugly gray hands. "What is the point if I look the same? I can still sense... you are a mutant." Caliban pointed to one of the scientists. 

"It appears you have picked up a unique little gift, my young friend. I have big plans for you." On Viper's signal, a door was opened. Father Stryker stepped in, flanked by two black guards, similar to the green guards Viper often used. "Father Stryker, I would like you to meet Caliban."

"Filthy pondscum, that's all this thing is to me. Why do you show me this?"

"Because, Father, he happens to be your son." Stryker's face went pale. He looked at the ugly, scarred, gray man sitting there. Yes, it all made sense now. The infant he had tried to dispose of... 

-------------------------------

Magneto stood with his own team near a row of newly-opened metal spheres in the middle of the desert. The night air had chilled it considerably, but it was still dry and warm. Several yards from the spheres was a heavily guarded fence, and beyond it, a heavily guarded military base. His team consisted of Warren Worthington, Robert Drake, Lance Alvers, Kate Pryde, Callisto, and of all people, Evan Daniels.

"We have no time to lose," Magneto said. In a moments' time, the fence was down and the team rushed in.

Those of you who've read AoA:AR, here's some trivia for you:

Alternate Reality: Toad and Jean Grey are Mastermind's children. They hate him, though it's never specifically stated why.

Legacy of Apocalypse: We learn that Mastermind was an alcoholic and hinted that he might've been a bit abusive. 

So there you go, in AR he abused them as children. When Apocalypse recruited him, he outright abandoned them. The only thing that's different is that in AR, Jean was his biological daughter (adopted by the Greys), and in LoA, Jean is a Grey by birth (adopted by Mastermind).

And, in reverse:

Legacy of Apocalypse: While Magneto, Mystique and Mastermind (THE M SQUAD!!!!!!!!) are discussing their children, Forge gets upset and leaves. Mystique knows why.

Alternate Reality: Forge explains to Mystique that a side-effect of his mutation is that he is sterile.

So, having met beforehand in LoA, Mystique already knows this.

Now then, on to the usual questions...

What is Magneto doing? Why is Evan there? Wh... uh... crap. I spent so much time writing that backstory that I didn't have time to do much of anything. Okay. Well, dwell on those questions.


	9. Mutant Extraction

Okay, I've gotten around to this one now. Since it's been so long since I last updated this story, some of you might want to go back and read the last two or three chapters just to catch up on things (especially since most of chapter 8 was a giant flashback and doesn't have any direct bearing on this chapter). In fact, some of you may want to start from the beginning. The ending to this one will seem a little... weird to you, but it will grow in the next few chapters). Oh, and excuse the grammar.

****

Chapter Nine - Mutant Extraction

The first team arrived at the government facility Magneto had specified a few minutes after midnight. True to the building's nature, it didn't appear to be a heavily guard facility, but an office building with few windows. Currently, Toad was crawling along the wall, looking through one of those windows. A headset on his head allowed him to relay information back to the team.

"Things look clear here... no guards, no camer- wait, hold on... someone just walked by... I... uh... YAAAGH!" Toad quickly jumped onto the window ceil and jumped back up to the roof. Scott and Wanda sat on the ledge, with Pyro, Danielle, Jubilee and Dorian sitting near the metal spheres that they had arrived in.

"Well?" Wanda asked.

"They kinda spotted me..."

"Thanks a lot," Scott scolded, smacking him in the head. "New plan then?"

"We'll split into two teams," Wanda said. "The first team will make an entrance up here, and the second will work their way in from the bottom. Pyro, Danielle, Toad, Dorian, you're team one. Scott, Jubilee and I will be team two."

"That's all great, but who goes where?" Pyro asked.

"Give me a moment."

"Some leader." Wanda ignored him, then ordered the first team to arrive through the bottom. Toad had to help them all down, being the only one who could jump from that height and not hurt himself. Once he had helped Pyro and Danielle, it was Dorian's turn. He picked him up and jumped off.

"Jump off buildings often?" Toad asked on the way down.

"Every chance I get," he replied nervously. On the roof, Jubilee focused her blasts on a point indicated by Wanda and after a moment Scott blasted the same point. Down below, Toad broke through the front door and the first team rushed in. The denizens of the building wanted to keep up the facade of a small office building, so there was a small lobby with a receptionist and a security guard, who walked over to them.

"I'm sorry, the building is closed for the night," the guard said. "I'm going to have to ask you to leave."

"When are your regular hours?" Pyro asked.

"We are open from nine to seven every day. We close at five on Fridays, at noon on Saturdays, and we're closed Sundays," the guard replied, sounding like he was reading a memorized note card.

"So what do you do in here, anyway?"

"Er..." the guard glanced to the receptionist briefly. She made some motion with her hand, and he turned back to them. "Tax services."

"Tax THIS!" Danielle yelled. She pressed her hand against his face and moments later, he was huddle against the wall, crying. Toad jumped to the receptionist's desk before she could reach under the table and spat a glob of sticky slimy on her hands and face, gluing her hands to her chair and keeping her mouth shut. The security camera had been looking away at that moment, and Pyro fried its wires before it could turn back to them.

"I could've kept him there making excuses all night, if you two would've let me," Pyro told them, disappointed. "Going up, then?" They shuffled into an elevator.

"Okay, now which floor do we go to?" Danielle asked.

"Third floor!" Toad suggested.

"Fourth!" yelled Dorian.

"THIRD!"

"FOURTH!"

"Team two, you in?" Pyro asked through his headset.

"We're in," Wanda replied. "One of the guards we questioned said Stryker's on the fourth floor. We're on the ninth now. Get to the fourth and whatever happens, don't let Stryker and Caliban get away."

"Yeah, your dad drilled that much into us. Fourth floor, guys." Dorian pressed the button and stuck his tongue out. Toad stuck his own tongue out and put him back in his place.

-------------------------------

Evan Daniels, Robert Drake and Warren Worthington took cover behind a wall of ice, hoping the bulletfire aimed at them could be deflected by the ice, but they could see that its opacity was lessening as the bullets chipped away at it.

"We can't hide here too much longer," Warren told them. "Daniels and I will make a diversion, you take the enemy down."

"Gotcha." Warren signaled and flew out of the left side of the ice wall with Evan running out of the right, launching bone-spikes at the guards. Half turned to fire at him, the other half aimed at Warren, soaring above them. Quickly, Robert rolled out from behind the wall and froze the guards' hands and weapons, neutralizing them.

"Not bad, Drake, not bad. Take Daniels and get inside with the others, I'll keep an eye out here." Robert and Evan ran through the fenced desert base and through a mangled steel door, but they didn't move too much before stopping behind a barricade, where Lance and Callisto took cover from the fire that hailed them from the other side. Callisto held a rifle, taken from a fallen guard.

"Where are the others?" Evan asked.

"Magneto and Pryde are moving forward," Callisto explained. "Our job is to get their attention... we're holding them off here, how are things outside?"

"We've got most of them down, Warren's scouting the area. I get the feeling this isn't going to work."

"Magneto's never let us down before, and we're not about to let him down." Callisto fired several rounds, taking down three more guards who had appeared. "This hall looks clear enough. We'll run down this way and then branch out and see if we can draw their attention long enough." On her signal, they did as she ordered, each taking a separate path through the base. Lance raised his hands at a trio of guards and dropped concrete and steel onto them, but he also caved himself out and was forced to take another path.

Elsewhere on the base, Viper watched from a secure location. Several security cameras had been destroyed, and the one she was looking at was frozen over, forcing her to look at another one.

"This has gone on long enough," she said to a nearby subordinate, standing at attention. "Human soldiers stand no chance against them. Send out our agents."

Evan stopped as he felt the floor beneath him rumble. He remembered the incidents at the Russian base and quickened his pace. He hadn't encountered any more guards; he realized that the guards were withdrawing and that new weapons were being brought out. So where was he going? Evan stopped. There was no need to create a further diversion. Evan realized that at that point, his greatest concern would be simply staying alive.

With no warning, the wall behind him exploded and the unstoppable Cain Marko marched forward, his hand outstretched. Evan fired a volley of bone-spikes, but they bounced off like toothpicks. Juggernaut grabbed Evan's head, surrounding it with his massive hand, and lifted the kicking and struggling teenager off the ground.

-------------------------------

Tabitha Smith woke up in her apartment, laying on the couch with a wet towel on her forehead. She tossed it off and sat up, noting that it was night and the lights were off, but she wasn't alone.

"You're up," Gambit said to her, sitting on a chair. "You've been out for a few hours. I thought I'd do you a favor and bring you home and tuck you in."

"Thank you," she said weakly. "What happened to me?"

"I dunno, but I'm thinking maybe, just maybe we'd better cut down on the legacy." Gambit pointed to Tabby's arm and her eyes grew wide with horror at the sight of large, violet-black boils covering her skin.

"What?! What is this?! This is a dream, it's all a bad dream!"

"Afraid not." Gambit rolled up his sleeve and showed her that he had also developed the boils, though they were smaller. "Maybe if we lay off the stuff for a while, it'll go away."

"For a while? I can't just stop! C'mon, it's gotta be some virus that's going around, we'll get over it." Tabby jumped to her feet and took a box from under the couch, opened it and pulled out a syringe. "I just need to calm down..."

"Girl, what's wrong with you? That's what's making us all freaky to begin with!"

"Shut up, shut up, it's just a virus, it has nothing to do with legacy!" Gambit knocked the syringe out of her hand and took both her hands forcefully. "Let me go! LET ME GO!"

"Tabby, listen to me, we've gotta stop this! I know it's hard, but this stuff's gonna kill us if we keep at it. C'mon, you got more willpower than that."

"I... I..." Tabby fell into Gambit's arms. "I'm just so scared."

"Don't worry, Ororo's gonna help us out. I hope."

-------------------------------

Toad hopped down the hallway with Pyro behind him, torching the carpet and securing the nobody would escape. Dorian and Danielle approached from the other side of the hall.

"Why are you burning the carpet?!" Danielle yelled.

"Keeps our enemy from running. I'm not always this clever."

"He can teleport, you know."

"Aw, crud." With one half of the hall burning, there was only one place to go, but Danielle and Dorian had already covered it. "So if you two got that side and we got this side, and we've pretty much looked all over this floor... where the bloody hell is that X-Cutioner?"

"Yo, Pyro," Toad said. "You know how in movies, anytime someone asks a question like that, the guy kind of shows up and kicks everyone's ass?"

"Yeah, yeah! And then the comic relief guy says 'hey, you had to say that, didn't you!' I love cheesy crap like that!"

"Yeah, well, you'll get a kick out of this." The X-Cutioner stood at the intact end of the hall, blocking off their escape route. He held his metal polearm with both hands, kneeling and holding it upright. With his right hand, he made the sign of the cross, then rose to his feet and pointed the polearm towards them.

"There's four of us," Pyro said. "He can't get us all at once! Here's the plan- Danielle, do what you can with his head while Toad and I kick the heaven out of this guy."

"What do you want me to do?" Dorian asked.

"Stand back and try not to get in our way. Heads up, pal!" A spiral of fire surrounded the X-Cutioner, who backed away warily. Toad's tongue grabbed his weapon, but the X-Cutioner maintained a firm grip, even as the flames grew closer... but then, in an instant, the flame spiral changed shape, becoming just two streams of fire coming from the emitters on either of Pyro's hands. "Awwww, what gives now?"

"Dorian!" Danielle realized. "If he's canceling our powers, than he's just as weak as we are." Toad tackled the X-Cutioner and pinned him to the ground. He struggled briefly, but pushed him off and backed away, only to bump into someone behind him.

"Going somewhere, pal?" Scott asked. Wanda and Jubilee had cleared the floors above them. The X-Cutioner looked around, holding his polearm defensively. Pyro, Danielle, Jubilee, Dorian, Scott, Wanda and Jubilee surrounded him. Even without their powers, thanks to Dorian's intervention, and with his advanced weapons unusable, he stood no chance. He dropped his weapon and stood up straight.

"You have won this round," the X-Cutioner announced.

"Where's daddy dearest?" Pyro asked.

"So you know," the X-Cutioner replied. "He is not here. He left around the time you arrived."

"Where did he go?" Wanda asked.

"I am bound to secrecy. I would give me life to keep him from being captured. You have all failed. This war can continue without me." The X-Cutioner pulled the blade from his polearm and held it in the air, then turned it inward.

"Stop him!" Scott and Pyro ran to him, trying to force the blade out of his hands, but he proved stronger than they though. Toad and Wanda ran in to help them. Jubilee looked on, confused and unable to understand why someone would attempt to take their own life so carelessly. The very thought sent shivers down her body and she felt her knees weaken.

"Jubilee, watch out!" Danielle yelled to her.

Jubilee looked down and noticed that metallic tendrils growing from the carpet were climbing up her legs- they had already passed her knees, but there was no use in surprising her. The tendrils quickly grew out and wrapped themselves around her waist and arms as well. With her hands still relatively free, she pointed them downward, forgetting that Dorian had created a field that left them all powerless. The tendrils pulled her against the floor as a circular opening was created, wide enough for her to be pulled down. As Danielle and Dorian ran to her, Jubilee disappeared and the hole closed, leaving no evidence of its existence.

"Where did they take her?!" Wanda yelled, punching the X-Cutioner across his masked face. "WHERE IS SHE?!"

"She has been taken to a secure facility by Omega Red. If you kill me, you will never find her again. If you let me live, then I will escape, and if I cannot, I will kill myself before you can extract any information from me." Behind them, the floor was ripped apart by the metal tendrils; they flew up and ripped into the roof, allowing Omega Red to lift himself to their floor.

"Dorian, give us our powers back!" Pyro yelled.

"Right!" Dorian concentrated as Omega Red's tendrils whipped around the room, smashing pieces of the wall and flinging them haphazardly around. One of them drilled through the wall and out another, wrapping around Scott and slamming him against the wall in an attempt to pull him through. As the others watched, Pyro noticed that Scott's glasses were red again.

"Power is back!" Pyro produced a fiery bull that charged at the Russian mutant, who recoiled in fear released Scott, pulling his tendrils back at him and then throwing them against the bull and tearing it apart. Quickly, he raised his tendrils and locked them tightly against each other in a spiral shield that blocked Scott's optic blast- unfortunately, a blue hex energy pulled the shield apart and let the blast knock Omega Red against the wall. He began to stand back up. He saw these mutant teenagers prepared to assault him again and his anger swelled, but then, he saw something else- he saw a room covered with machinery, filtered in red thanks to a liquid surrounding him. He looked down at his arms and saw to his horror that metal tendrils had been grafted to them. Outside, a bald man with goggles looked at him, studying him. He motioned to other men and Omega Red felt a great burst of pain, so great that he passed out.

"What the blazes-?!" Pyro watched as Omega Red gave up and his tendrils drooped lifelessly. "I guess we wore him out."

"Or I wore him out," Danielle said. "It took me a little longer than usual, but I got into his head."

"That's some good work, luv," Pyro grinned.

"This doesn't help us at all, though," Wanda said. "Caliban teleported away the moment his devices started working again, and we still don't have Jubilee."

"No, but we got him instead," Toad said. "If we take him back to my dad, he can probably get some information out of him."

"Okay, I think the three of us men will be enough to pick him up," Pyro said. "On the count of three... one, two... there we go!" Pyro and Toad held Omega Red's arms and Scott held his legs. "Guess we gotta get back to the roof, huh?"

"I'm glad you came along," Danielle said to Dorian. "We wouldn't have gotten this far without you."

"Really?" Dorian asked, feeling important.

"The point is, we still failed," Wanda reminded them. "We were supposed to bring Stryker back alive. He escaped, and so did Caliban. Magneto won't be happy at all."

"But we can still make it up to him," Toad told her. "I said maybe my dad might-"

"I heard you the first time Toad, thanks, but it's not the same. I doubt he knows enough to provide us with any real information. I'm pretty sure he's under some sort of mental control. He might not even remember fighting us."

"If it makes you feel better, we did our best," Scott reminded her.

"It doesn't, but thanks anyway." The room was silent for a moment. "Okay, there's an elevator this way." As Wanda led the group, Dorian pulled a fire alarm. After all, the building was on fire.

-------------------------------

"We only have three more," Stryker said, sitting in his private helicopter. The X-Cutioner sat across from him, next to the doorway to the cockpit, and a sedated Jubilee next to him. "We have sight of one of them in Mexico, Viper is taking care of them right now, but the last two are more elusive. I'm not sure what the Professor has in mind for those, but it won't be long before we have everything in place."

"If this is your plan, why do they not tell you what is needed?" The X-Cutioner asked.

"Because I told them I wanted a weapon, I leave all that science to them. Their job is to carry out my orders, and mine are to carry out the Lord's. This is clear enough for you. Don't question my judgment."

"I am sorry, father."

-------------------------------

Magnet and Kate Pryde had arrived at their heart of their journey, the cell block containing mutant prisoners behind vaulted doors. Magneto was slightly frustrated at how similar the entire base was to the Russian fiasco, but he planned to release the prisoners either way. Unfortunately, there was just one more obstacle, standing in the cell block on all fours, growling.

"This is their defense?," Magneto asked, slightly disappointed. Sabretooth stood up and roared, only to be silence by a steel door whalloping him from behind. "Pathetic."

"What... Magneto!" Freddy was behind the newly opened cell. "Am I glad to see you!"

"We'll have time for words later." Magneto pulled apart the remaining doors, releasing Jean Grey, Beast, and Mystique. "Quickly, we have to leave the base."

"Where are Kurt and Rogue?!" Mystique demanded to know.

"Rogue is safe at the Institute. Kurt... we are not sure."

"He has to be here somewhere, we have to find him!"

"He's not here. This is the only cell block on the base. If they still have him, he is being held in a more secure location."

"Then I'm not leaving without answers."

"You will get your answers soon enough." Magneto smashed the steel doors together, packing them tightly with enough pressure to form a crude, unpolished sphere. "Get inside."

"What about the others?" Kate asked.

"They'll meet us outside. This is Magneto," Magneto said into a small microphone. "We have what we came for. I'm ordering a full retreat."

"Copy," Warren said through a speaker. The freed mutants quickly shuffled into the new sphere along with Kate and Magneto and the sphere tore through the ceiling and several steel floors of the base were warped and bent unnaturally to give way.

Outside, Warren quickly dodged the sphere as it rose up in his flight path. He noticed Callisto and Robert running out of the base.

"Alvers, Daniels, did you get the message?" Warren asked. "Get out of there!"

"We've run into a problem," Lance said. Warren turned sharply when he heard a loud rumble and noticed that an entire exterior wall had been knocked over. Lance and Evan ran out as Juggernaut stomped after them.

"Oh, we did not need this." Warren dove in to get the two teens out of there, but Juggernaut swatted him out of the air with one mighty hand and threw him against the electrified perimeter fence. Juggernaut looked back at Lance and Evan before a sudden beam began covering him in ice. As Drake's beam continued, Juggernaut began chipping away at the ice forming around him, unhindered by it.

"Once he starts moving, there's nothing on this planet that can stop him," Evan told them. "We're not going to win this, we just need to get out of here."

"We can't stop him, but we can slow him down," Lance replied. A trench appeared in the ground in Juggernaut's path and he fell right in. The trench walls began closing around him, packing him tightly into the ground.

"Yeah, that works too." Callisto and Drake helped Warren to his feet and helped him walk away. "All in all, I think this was a pretty successful trip."

"Hmm, yeah," Lance agreed. "We could've used some more help from the others. I wonder what Magneto sent them to do?"

"Probably pick up some grocer- what the fuck?!" Juggernaut's arm flew out of the ground, pushing Evan aside and grabbing Lance's leg. The other arm soon appeared and Juggernaut pulled himself out of the ground and then grabbed Lance with both arms before running back into the base. "Hey! GET BACK HERE!" Evan ran after him, firing spikes and hoping to at least get his attention.

"They have Alvers now?" Warren said. "We need to go back in for hi-" He stopped when he noticed a helijet taking off from the other side of the base. "DAMMIT! NO! GET BACK HERE!"

"What's going on over there?" Kate asked over the radio.

"That monster just took off with Alvers!"

"Get back to the spheres," Magneto said. "I will deal with him." Magneto flew overhead towards the directon of the helijet. Warren sighed and allowed Callisto and Drake to help him back towards the spheres.

"Evan here," Evan said into a cell phone once the others were on their way off the base. "I'm in Mexico. Magneto has his team back, Mystique too. Kurt Darkholme is missing, though. Lance Alvers has just been captured, Magneto's going after him personally."

"What do they need Alvers for?" Ororo Monroe asked, on the other line.

"I don't know. Whatever they needed the others for, they're done, or they wouldn't have let us take them back so easily."

"Right. I have business to take care of here, Evan. Keep me posted if and when anything new develops."

"We're being followed," the pilot told Viper, who reclined peacefully in her seat. Juggernaut, too large to fit comfortably inside the helijet, had to sit on the floor next to an unconscious Lance.

"Contact the Professor, tell him we have him." Viper looked out the window to see Magneto flying side-by-side with them. The helijet abruptly stopped. "He thinks he's so clever, does he?"

"Perhaps," Magneto answered as he tore through the steel door and entered. "I will take the boy."

"You have no claim to him," Viper retorted. "We caught him, fair and square, as your students say."

"I know fairness, and I am reasonable. Turn him over willingly, or I will take him."

"What a predicament," Viper mourned. "We, in this metal contraption, and without any real weapons to defend ourselves against the master of magnetism. Very well, you may take the boy." Juggernaut lifted Lance and turned him over into Magneto's arms. Without warning, Viper drew a knife and deeply cut Lance's shoulder, spilling his blood on the steel floor. Magneto quickly withdrew before anymore damage could be done and the helijet was already speeding away. Lance was bleeding heavily, and he had no time to waste.

"The fool," Viper said. The co-pilot had left the cockpit and began collecting blood into small test tubes. "He could have just captured me and ended it, but now he has a sick child to tend to. It must be terrible to feel compassion."

-------------------------------

Hours later, both teams had returned to the Xavier Institute. Lance was taken to the infirmary and treated, Jean, Freddy and Beast were given food and then allowed to rest in their old rooms, but Omega Red drew more attention than any of them. He was taken to a secure room where Magneto, Mastermind and Pietro interrogated him.

"I know nothing," Arkady said honestly. Mastermind had managed to wipe the mental conditioning, but found that he remembered little of what happened during that time.

"We will take what information we can from you," Magneto threatened. Mastermind once more pried into Arkady's mind and searched for the answers they needed. He looked up at Magneto and shook his head.

"Then we have nothing?"

"Just what we knew before. Viper is developing a weapon and she needs mutants to power it... my guess is that she only needs their genetic code, which is why she allowed their escape today."

"And why she allowed me to take Lance Alvers, after she attacked him. Now Jubilee has been taken. Kurt is still missing. We're running out of time and options."

"We could just talk to Hank and the others," Pietro suggested. "They might know something."

"They might, but it's best not to pressure them," Mastermind said. "I'll talk to Jean later."

"But then, what do we do about Arkady?"

"We return him to Callisto's custody, just like before," Magneto said.

"Erik, he may still be dangerous. I've detected a small link in his mind to whatever it was that controlled his mind, this brainwashing hasn't been entirely removed. It could resurface at any time, or whoever controlled him could use that link to spy on us."

"Then we'll keep him here and make sure he's secure," Pietro said. "We have no choice then, we're going have to treat him as a prisoner."

"Yes, agreed," Magneto said to his son.

-------------------------------

"So what kind of crazy torture did they put you guys through?" Pyro asked. Jean and Freddy felt ready to rejoin the team, so they met with Pyro, Wanda, Toad, Scott and Danielle in the foyer.

"It wasn't so bad, really," Freddy explained. "The food was a little stale, but they feed us three times a day, our cells were climate controlled, and except for the fact that they drew blood from us every so often, it was pretty peaceful."

"That's pretty boring, mate."

"Okay, let me tell you the REAL story... the cell was cold and damp that night, and the lighting was poor. Young, handsome Freddy Dukes waited for his friends to save him and the beautiful Jean Grey, but Freddy decided that they had waited long enough: it was time to take matters into his own hands."

"I'm not going to listen to this," Danielle muttered, rolling her eyes.

"Aw, c'mon, Dani girl, it'd do you some good to lighten up a bit," Pyro encouraged her. "Freddy, skip ahead and get to the part where you fight the Yakuza guys with only a spoon!"

"No, no, no, this time, I had no spoon, I had only a broken jewel case and a stick of gum... and I was blindfolded! So there I was..."

"You left out there part where you bang your head against the wall and I had to fight them all myself," Jean joked.

"That was deliberate. I had to see if you could fight them all on your own. I couldn't fight all your battles for you." Their laughter was quickly silenced when Magneto and Pietro entered. The casualness of their conversation ended as the X-Men all assumed more formal positions. Scott and Toad stayed as they were.

"Your mission was a failure," Magneto berated them. "The capture of Arkady Rossovich has yielded little information. He may now be a liability to us, more than an advantage. Stryker and his assassin have both escaped and Jubilee is now missing. I expected this sort of failure from Pyro or Raven's children, but not from you, Wanda."

"We did what we could, sir," Wanda said calmly. "Our force was limited and they had the upper hand. There was no way that we could outsmart them on their home turf."

"Which is why your failure is understandable, but it was a failure nonetheless. We are dealing with an enemy more cunning than we originally believed. Our own mission was only successful because they wanted it to be. They didn't need Converse, Stalwart, Beast or Mystique, and they let us take them. We took back Alvers, but they still have his blood."

"Now we have to wait for him to make the next move," Pietro said. "Which means everyone has to stay here... again." Scott and Toad both groaned. "Hey, this is a nice place! I don't see why anyone would want to leave."

"Because this is gettin' to be too much for us," Toad said.

"You guys all have combat training, but we don't," Scott reminded them. "You'd think that would factor into your plans, but now that you're keeping us here, you're going to want to send us out on missions, too! We're not cut out for this hero stuff!"

"You have no choice," Magneto told them. "You will be hunted outside these walls."

"Better to take our chances out there then sit here and wait for them!"

"We will stay here," Mystique said, entering the foyer. "They still have Kurt and Marie is still recovering. If nothing else, then stay here so that you can help find answers about your brother."

"Alright," Scott grumbled. "But I'm under no obligation to follow orders." Magneto left the foyer, leaving the others to discuss. In the hall, he was confronted by Callisto and Warren. Warren's wings had burn marks, but they appeared to be fine.

"Callisto, I explained Arkady's situation to you, and Warren, I've already updated you on Lance's condition. I assure you that they will both be fine." Magneto started to walk, but noticed that neither had moved. "I have business to tend to," he said angrily.

"You didn't tell us about Caliban," Warren said. Magneto's eyes widened. He had deliberately told his team to keep the X-Cutioner's identity a secret- especially from Callisto and Warren. "We had to learn from Dorian."

"Dorian..."

"How long have you known he was alive?"

"Not much longer than you," Magneto said truthfully. "Rogue absorbed his memories and Mastermind culled them. I don't want either of you involved with him. There's no room for personal grudges."

"This isn't the first time you've lied to us, Magneto," Callisto reminded him. "How long were you going to let Caliban hunt mutants? Did you forget that he killed many of your own students?"

"I am aware of that," Magneto said, trying as hard as he could to keep his anger under control. "Nothing has changed. He is still Stryker's assassin and his identity shouldn't be any concern to you. Your vendetta will put all of us in jeopardy and you are both to ignore Caliban's identity and treat him as you would any other nameless enemy. Is that understood?"

"We're not X-Men anymore," Warren said. "You can't order us around."

"No, but you are guests in my home, and so long as you stay here, you will do as I say. Right now, our mission is to find and retrieve Kurt and Jubilee and return them safely. Caliban is not our priority."

"We understand," Callisto said with a sigh. She realized that Magneto had not intentionally lied to them, and that he was just as concerned about finding Jubilee as she was.

"Good. If you'll excuse me, I have work to do." They stepped out of his way and allowed him to continue down the hall. Callisto and Warren exchanged glances; Callisto was sad and worried, but Warren still had anger in his eyes. He turned abruptly and left.

-------------------------------

Father Stryker entered a large but dimly lit room with the X-Cutioner, a great round room with only one simple wooden door. A hole in the ceiling allowed daylight to filter through at two spots: at the door, and at the opposite end of the room, where a man sat on a stone platform. The top was smooth and polished, but the sides remained rough and uncut. The man faced away from Stryker, wearing a brown jacket and messy black hair, but the rest of his features were invisible to Stryker. The walls around the stone platform seemed to be made of cut sandstone and engraved with red symbols, the meaning of which were lost to Stryker.

"No, we told him that," the man said with a thick British accent. His voice was hoarse and tired, as if he had been speaking constantly and was not allowed to stop. "They did it." Then, the man spoke in a deeper voice, though it was still clearly his own, in a language unfamiliar to Stryker. If he had to guess, he would have said that it was an Arabic language of some sort. "Yes, yes, they know... I told them three times. I hope this will all be over soon..."

He spoke once more in Arabic, angrily.

"Twelve, yes, twelve... Father Stryker," the man called, speaking loudly now, but not turning to face him. "Do you have news?"

"We only have two subjects left," Stryker reported. "We have ten viable samples for the weapon."

"Yes, ten... a good number." The man hissed in Arabic again. "Yes, you heard him, he has ten. He only needs two more... which two did you say?" The man explained something to himself in his other voice. "Ah, ah. Tell Madame Viper to search in Bayville."

"Bayville? There are many mutants there. Magneto and his teams live there. Do you want another one of them? We might have had the opportunity to collect a sample from this one earlier today."

"No... not with Magneto. Look in Northern Bayville... tell Viper to search..." The man muttered to himself in Arabic. "Autumn Hill... search... Autumn Hill... is that right? Yes, Autumn Hill. Search Autumn Hill."

"Will both samples be there?" Stryker asked. The man hissed to himself, and then laughed in his deeper voice.

"No. Only one... one will be there. Once you have it... come back to me. I will tell you where to find the last one... come back to me... I will tell you..." In his deeper voice, he mumbled, and then shouted to himself in the other language. "Now, leave us. Complete your mission... you will carry out His will, father."

"I will. May God be with you."

"...And also with you..." Stryker nodded and left, followed by the X-Cutioner, who closed the door behind him. The man hugged his legs and began to rock back and forth. "The weapon will be finished soon enough... Stryker will be pleased with this idea... I will be rewarded... yes, I will be rewarded... at last..."

Well, that was... odd. Crazy man speaks in two voices, and one of them is in some wacky Arabic language, or Stryker thinks so, anyway. Is Stryker taking orders from this guy, or is he just assisting him in designing this weapon? Seems kind of crazy that they'd need mutant blood to power this thing, but oh well. Will Omega Red yield any information? Will Lance be out of action? Will Kurt and Jubilee be found? And how far will this legacy addiction take Gambit and Tabby? Who knows, who cares?


	10. Lies and Answers

Awesome, ten chapters... the end is coming. Yet another turn in the plot, but soon, we'll get to some real action... as for whether or not I started this back up because of you (yes, YOU)... well, not particularly, though you did remind me that I needed to get back to work on this. Oh, and excuse the grammar.

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Chapter Ten - Lies and Answers

"Viper, where are you?! Answer me, Viper! I demand you answer me!" an Irish voice screamed through the radio on the helijet console, or at least, that's where it should have been. Instead, it lay in piles of rock and shredded metal, covered with a thin layer of sand. Nearby, the bleeding pilot struggled to reach it, dragging his broken legs behind him.

"Father Stryker," the pilot answered. "Madame Viper is missing..."

"Missing? Who is this?! What happened down there?"

"My name is Spears, pilot 431152... we were attacked... the jet is totaled..."

"Attacked?! By who?!"

"The mutant we were carrying..." Viper took the radio from Spears' hands. Though she was covered with a few cuts and her clothes were slightly torn, Viper seemed to be in fine condition.

"This is Viper. Juggernaut broke free of our mind control and brought the jet down. I'm fine, the pilots took most of the damage. One of them is dead, this one just seems to have a few broken limbs."

"Where is that creature now?!" Stryker demanded.

"Settle down, father. He is heading east. I've lost sight of him, he's very fast for a mutant his size. The sample of Lance Alvers' blood we collected survived the crash... one of the pilots gave his life protecting it."

"Admirable devotion. Get his name, we will honor his memory. We have your coordinates... Southern Mexico. I'll send a team to pick you up."

"Yes, thank you, father." Viper set the radio down and took a small metal box from the wreckage and opened it. "We don't have too many rations."

"There's enough in that box for three people to live off for five days," Spears explained.

"It's a shame there's only one of us here..." Viper took a pistol and shot the wounded Spears in the head. "If anyone asks, I'll say it was desert bandits."

Juggernaut had already covered several miles, his heavy, metal-clad feet no longer stepping on rock and sand, but progressively lusher grass. Juggernaut stayed clear of any larger cities and his pace remained constant. One Juggernaut began moving in one direction, no force on Earth could stop him. He only hoped that he could reach his destination before his captors could have a chance to brainwash him again.

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"Anything yet?" Magneto asked, entering the isolation chamber where Arkady Rossovich was held. Adamantium globes were fastened to his hands, designed to keep his carbonadium tendrils in check. Mastermind and Callisto stood with him, but by the look on their faces, Magneto could tell that there was no news.

"No memories have resurfaced," Mastermind explained. "I thought maybe a few hours of rest would help him regain any memory of his time with Stryker's forces, but everything seems the same as it was yesterday."

"I didn't kill anyone, did I?" Arkady asked in his thick Russian accent.

"No, not that we know of, anyway," Callisto reassured him. "There are several marks along his arm, Magneto. They must have drawn his blood, too."

"Juggernaut and Sabretooth must also have contributed their blood to this project," Magneto deduced. "It's possible Caliban is also directly involved."

"But what could this weapon be?" Mastermind asked. "Their X-Genes are being harnessed, I think we can be certain of that, but how could our own gene be used against us?"

"They might be developing some sort of virus," Callisto guessed. "Something that attacks the X-Gene directly... but then, why go through so much trouble? If they just needed X-Gene samples, they could've gotten them from anywhere."

"We're running out of time and we have no answers," Magneto said. "None of our sources have any leads."

"There is one memory I managed to find," Mastermind explained. "It seems to be the last memory Mr. Rossovich had before he fell under Hydra control. It's not much, though."

"What is it?"

"They drugged me, in Callisto's home," Arkady explained for himself. "I woke up in a room, everything was dark, but there was one light coming from a hole in the roof. There was a man there, I think a mutant, he spoke in two languages, one and then the other. He had his back to me, but then the one you call Caliban took me forward. The man turned to me and pressed his hands to my head, and there it ends."

"What did this man look like?"

"I can't remember..."

"The face is blurred," Mastermind told him. "He must have done that himself."

"Blurred face..." Callisto muttered to herself. "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

"Caliban's true master," Magneto whispered. "What else was in this room? Was there anything of note?"

"Signs on the wall behind him, but I don't know what they meant," Arkady lamented.

"They looked like Egyptian hieroglyphics," Mastermind explained. "But I'm no expert. I'm not sure we know anyone who could decipher them."

"Dr. Marko could have, but he is already theirs," Magneto said. "We could find one of his colleagues. The University of Bayville may have an anthropologist who could translate them for us. Mastermind, take a mental snapshot of those markings."

"Right away." Mastermind's eyes glowed for a moment and he looked into Arkady's. "I have it memorized."

"Good. We have work to do."

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Evan looked out from behind a garbage dumpster behind a fast food restaurant. A young boy with mottled blue-green skin ran by, followed by several police officers. The young boy fell over a fallen stop sign and the police were all over him. Evan wanted to help him, but he knew that it was too late, and he had important work to do. It wasn't work risking it.

With the police distracted and cruelly firing, Evan ran past them into an alley, stopping at a red door. He knocked three times, then kicked twice, then paused, kicked again, and knocked a final time. The door immediately opened and as soon as he was inside, slammed shut.

"Welcome back," Colossus said.

"Thanks. Where's my aunt?"

"Downstairs, in her lounge, as always." Evan nodded and headed down there. Storm stood over a fallen Tabby, with Gambit nearby. There was a look of terror on Gambit's face, made all the more shocking by the fact that Evan had never seen Gambit afraid.

"On time, as always," Storm said to him sarcastically.

"What... is she...?"

"She's alive," Storm said. "Barely. Her infection is spreading and she's fallen into a coma. Gambit will be joining her soon. Hundreds of mutants across the city are suffering the same affliction, thousands across the state, millions across the nation. Nobody notices this because the media is controlled by Hydra and many mutants are being slaughtered in the streets before the infection can do anything to them."

"What can we do to help her?"

"Nothing. We don't know anything about this infection and given the current state of affairs, we're not going to get any help."

"It's over... it's over for me," Gambit panicked.

"Have some dignity," Storm scowled. "If the drugs didn't kill you, some mutant hunter would. Evan, what do you have for me?"

"The captured mutants have all been returned, except Kurt and Jubilee, like I said. Omega Red's been taken into custody, but they didn't find anything, at least not while I was there. Converse, Stalwart, Mystique Beast have all contributed to the project. Mastermind apparently didn't get any blood taken out of him while he was there. Omega Red, Sabretooth and Juggernaut were probably all part of it too. Kurt and Jubilee, no doubt. Forge, Mesmero and the X-Cutioner might be involved."

"So he's been confirmed as a mutant," Storm said.

"Actually... his identity was confirmed. His name was Caliban, but that's all I overheard."

"...Caliban?" Storm turned away. "He's alive then. This doesn't surprise me at all. Magneto, bastion of honesty... first Mastermind, now Caliban rises from his grave. He must've used their graves as an excuse to bury some old enemies. Who would dig for evidence in big, stately Autumn Hill? Only elitists like Magneto have the money to bury their friends or enemies there. What a joke."

"Autumn Hill? I thought I saw some suspicious people there on my way here," Evan revealed. "I didn't really think anything of it at the time."

"What?" Storm looked down at Tabby and the panicking Gambit. "Evan, get Colossus. We're going to pay our respects."

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Military police dotted every corner of the University of Bayville, watching carefully to see that students remained unharmed- what few students had decided to continue attending school, given the public situation- but especially keeping their eyes open for any mutant.

"Hello there," a young, bright-eyed blonde girl said to one of the officers as she walked towards one of the many buildings. Wrapped around her shoulders was the arm of a boy about her age, wearing a denim jacket and carrying several books, probably belonging to both of them.

"Good afternoon," the officer replied, allowing them to pass. Inside, the couple cornered a student who sat against a wall, nervously looking through his notes.

"Hey there," the brown-haired boy asked with a smile. "Could you tell us where Dr. Patronete's office is?"

"Patronete? Down the hall, last door, his name's on the window," the student told them. "I'm studying for his Asian Cultures exam in an hour. What class are you guys in?"

"Native American studies," the girl said.

"Oh, I didn't know they had that!"

"Yeah, it's a new course. Well, thanks!" She smiled at him before the couple went off to find Dr. Patronete.

"Let's see here," Dr. Patronete said to himself in his office, looking over what looked like an old journal. His office was decorated with treasures and curios from various cultures- dreamcatchers, jade statues, crusader shields, even a mounted katana on one of his walls, and all around his office were boxes with artifacts that he either hadn't gone over or hadn't found places for. In a giant picture frame behind him was a Muslim prayer rug, and around it were his frame credentials. His desk was covered with books, notebooks, pens, and random artifacts that struck his immediate interest. "...Demon bear spirit? That can't be right..." The couple knocked on his door. "Oh. Oh, come in, come in!"

"Dr. Patronete?" the boy asked.

"Yes, I am Dr. Patronete," he replied with a smile. Patronete himself was a portly man with thinning reddish-brown hair and a matching bear. His friendly eyes sat behind thick, black-rimmed glasses and he appeared to be in his mid-to-late forties. Like his room, he didn't dress to neatly, wearing a button-up shirt with his sleeves casually rolled back. "How may I help you?"

"We're here for some advice concerning some old text we found," the girl said, closing the door behind her. "This is a special case, and we needed an expert to help us out."

"Old text, you say? Well, I'd be happy to help you out, let me just set these folklore notes aside." Patronete put the old journal aside hurriedly, accidentally knocking over a portrait on his desk. The girl dashed forward to catch it. "Oh my, thank you!"

"Is this you?" the girl asked.

"Yes, before I became an old man," Patronete laughed. The portrait showed three men- one was Patronete, younger, slimmer and beardless, carrying a stack of books. The man in the center of the portrait looked a little older than Patronete and much more fit, black-haired, wearing no glasses or facial hair. The third man, on the side opposite to Patronete, was the largest of the three, very heavily built, but with a friendly expression on his face. There was some sort of stone temple in the background, built under a mountain. "That was... ah... about fifteen years ago, my colleagues and I were visiting the mortuary of Hatshepsut, commissioned by the British government to inspect it for any trace of evolutionary paths, some mutant investigation, I can freely say now. You see my friend Nathaniel, that's him in the middle, comes from Cambridge, so he was the one hired, but he wanted an anthropologist and an archaeologist to help him out, so that explains my presence and that of our good friend Cain, he's the bigger man there..."

"Cain Marko?" the boy asked, pretending he didn't already know that it was him.

"Yes, Dr. Cain Marko, from UCLA. Cain was a mutant himself, you see, but we knew that, even back then. In fact, his gene were dormant most of his life, but exposure to a Cyttorak gem triggered his mutation, which is why he's such a big guy. Strange thing about him, I haven't seen him lately... oh, I'm so sorry, I lost myself in my stories again," Patronete said, chuckling to himself. "So sorry. Now, about that old text you wanted me to look at?"

"We don't have it with us, actually," the boy said. His body waved unnaturally and he became an older, black-haired man. The girl with him shifted her body and became a blue-skinned, red-haired woman.

"Oh! Oh my!" Patronete said, startled. "What do you want with me?!"

"We're not here to hurt you," Mastermind explained. "I apologize for the deception, but it was the only way we could get past the large security forces outside."

"An... associate of ours has seen a set of Egyptian hieroglyphics," Mystique said. "Mastermind here can transfer the image into your mind for you to translate."

"I... I... I won't be associated with terrorists, mutant or human!" Patronete yelled, outraged.

"We are not terrorists. We just want answers, that's all. Once you've translated the text for us, we'll be out of your way."

"I don't know, this is so surprising..."

"Dr. Marko disappeared recently," Mystique reminded him. "We know where he is, and if we can translate this text, or at least tell where it's from, we might have an idea about where he is."

"Yes... Cain did disappear recently... alright. I'm ready." Mastermind placed his hand on top of Patronete's head and concentrated. "I... I... I see the markings... yes, I recognize these." Patronete took one of his notebooks and began copying down the symbols. Mystique looked on with interest. Patronete finished writing the symbols and Mastermind relaxed.

"What do they say?" Mystique asked impatiently.

"'Legend of pharaoh, the tomb is sealed. There is no mourning, the pharaoh yet lives.... ah... Menthu serves him, Anubis await him, Thoth records his words, Apophis obeys him. Pupil of Seth, master of all creation... Do not disturb the tomb, do not awake him. If his tomb is opened, the world will fall. The end of time, the end of men. A new era... the age of...' I can't translate this last symbol," Patronete pointed to an emblem depicting a beetle-like creature with the sun above it. "But I know it well. This is the emblem of En Sabah Nur; Nathaniel, Cain and I found his palace beneath the Sphinx, and a tomb of sorts in Tibet, of all places, though we couldn't get past the door."

"En Sabah Nur," Mystique whispered, "A pharaoh?"

"Yes, but not just any pharaoh... a mutant." Mystique and Mastermind both paid closer attention. "Nathaniel believed he may have been the first mutant... this was the evidence we had been sent to find so long ago, in fact. En Sabah Nur ruled roughly five thousand years ago in Giza... actually, this story might be a little long. Would you two care to sit down? I'll have someone bring us coffee."

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The X-Cutioner entered the large, dark room, alone, carrying a bowl of soup. The strange man lay in a fetal position on the stone pedestal, mumbling to himself. From the sound of his voice, he seemed to be speaking English- when speaking the other language, his voice was deeper.

"You're here," the man spoke. He made no movements and he kept his back turned to the X-Cutioner. "Do you have news?"

"I'm afraid not," the X-Cutioner replied. "I have brought food."

"Food, yes, good food... set it down there, I will eat it later." The X-Cutioner did as told and set down the bowl. "Are you happy, Caliban?"

"I am satisfied."

"But are you happy?" The man's usual twitch seemed to disappear. "I want you to be happy, Caliban. You live among humans, I know, but you won't have to much longer."

"The weapon my father is building... it is designed to destroy mutants."

"Yes, it is. Are you unhappy doing your father's bidding?"

"No," the X-Cutioner replied. "I live for him."

"Yet he treats you with such disrespect..."

"He hates me. He hates all mutants. Nothing I do will truly please him, so long as I continue to exist."

"Your time will come, Caliban. He will come to appreciate and respect you. For now, let him continue with the weapon and serve him. He will see you in a new light. Go. I'd like to be alone."

"Yes, of course." The X-Cutioner bowed and left the room, closing the door behind him.

"Alone... I would like to be alone..." the man's nervous manner seemed to reappear, and he began to rock back and forth on his side. "I can't be alone until this is over... but soon... alone... alone..."

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Several Hydra soldiers moved between the graves in the darkness at Autumn Hill Memorial Cemetery. Viper, rested and for the most part, healed after the accident with Juggernaut, led the troops. Though Viper was dressed much the same as she always was, her men all wore special helmets with vision-enhancing devices. They scanned each headstone carefully as they walked past.

"Fan out and cover the grounds," Viper commanded. "It won't be long before... cancel the search."

"What is it, Madame Viper?"

"We've found our buried treasure." One of the troops activated a light on his helmet and shone it one a large headstone. "'Charles Francis Xavier, beloved friend, your legacy lives on.' Magneto has a way with cheesy messages. Alright, men. Let's get this done quickly."

"Yes, ma'am." A Hydra soldier placed six small, circular boxes around the basic perimeter of the grave, then activated them via remote. A small, blue light on each box lit up and they began to sink into the ground. "This will take a few minutes."

"We might as well have brought Stryker, he's good at these things... does anybody else feel a chill?"

"I've had chills since you told me we were going to exhume a body," the troop replied.

"No, something is..." Viper paused when she noticed a snowflake, and within a few seconds, snow was falling at a regular rate. "It was seventy degrees just a few minutes ago..." The wind picked up, gaining unnatural speed and swirling snow and cold air around the cemetery. Something flew out from behind a tree and lodged itself in the Hydra troop's head. Viper looked down, holding her coat tightly around her, and noticed that it was a bony spike. "I should have guessed. Come out! I know you're here."

"YAARGH!" The Hydra troops began to fire as Colossus appeared through the thick snowstorm, but their bullets did nothing to slow his charge. He smashed into them and began throwing them aside with enough force to knock them out. Evan fired a hail of spikes at another group of soldiers, moving quickly through the storm and hiding behind headstones to avoid the confused bulletfire.

"Come quietly, Viper," Storm said, floating down from the sky. The snow flew in unnatural patterns around her, as if she was protected by an air bubble. "Let the dead rest."

"Ah, Storm, where have you been?" Viper asked. "We lost sight of you. Hiding from Hydra is an impressive feat, Ms. Monroe. Unfortunate that you've chosen to reveal yourself at such an inconvenient time."

"I don't know what you want with Xavier's body, but as long as I am here, he will stay where he is." Storm landed near Viper as Colossus and Evan closed in. Viper was surrounded and her men were all dead or incapacitated. "You're coming with us. I have a few questions I'd like answered."

"Ororo, it's been so long since you and I last met. You were still with the X-Men, were you not? You're an intelligent woman. By now you must have learned that I always have..." Viper took a remote control from his coat, "...A backup plan."

Colossus dropped to the ground, tackled from behind by the lion-like Sabretooth. Colossus turned over and pushed Sabretooth off, punching him in the shoulder. Kurt Wagner, dressed in the uniform of a Hydra soldier, appeared in front of Evan and performed a spinning kick to his head. Viper stepped aside as Jubilee pushed through the snowstorm, charging her hands with colorful, glowing energy.

"...Clever," Storm admitted as she flew to avoid Jubilee's explosive blasts. Jubilee continued launching her blasts at her in a spitfire fashion and Storm was only barely fast enough to avoid them. Colossus, meanwhile, lifted Sabretooth over his head and hurled him at an angel statue. Sabretooth flew threw it, but before the broken fragments could settle on the snow-covered ground, he was already on all fours and pounced back towards Colossus, kicking him against a tree and jumping on his chest.

Kurt teleported behind Evan and wrapped his fuzzy black tail around Evan's throat, pulling him down to the ground and pinning him with his body, strangling him with his tail.

As the six mutants fought, Viper returned to Xavier's grave. She took the remote that the fallen soldier had dropped and activated the devices that had drilled into the ground. The ground between the holes shifted slightly and began to rise. Dirt and snow fell off as a casket was raised by the six devices, each grappled to the perimeter of the casket's bottom side and generating a field that allowed it to hover. Quickly, Viper opened the casket.

Charles Xavier's body was still recognizable. His clothes were intact, if dusty, and his body retained its skin and muscle, though it had withered considerably and Xavier's face was twisted and stretched into a bizarre expression of dignified sadness.

"Stop Viper!" Storm commanded. Quickly, Viper took Xavier's hand and broke off a single finger- his index finger. She placed it in a small plastic case and pushed it into her coat. Colossus charged at her, only to lose his footing and trip just feet away from her. He looked up to see that Viper was holding something long and black, or rather, it was holding her, as it seemed to lift her away. A helicopter hovered above the growing blizzard and Viper was soon safely inside. "No, not this time!" The clouds above them began to glow in various places and a sizzling, bright bolt of lighting stormed down from the sky.

"Be careful!" Colossus called. A blast from Jubilee nailed Storm in the back and destroyed her concentration. The lightning bolt struck a nearby tree, startling Kurt and forcing him to release Evan from his hold. Evan sat up quickly, gasping for air. On the ground, Storm looked up to see the helicopter flying away.

"She got away!" She yelled, outraged. "Evan, Piotr, we need to follow that helicopter and stop it."

"We have our orders," Sabretooth said, standing tall despite the increasingly powerful winds. "You will come with us, Storm."

"You have it? Good," Stryker said to Viper over radio. Viper sighed in relief and looked at the box containing Xavier's finger. "The Professor says Xavier will take longer to process than the others, but we managed."

"Yes, I had to escape quickly. I left our new agents fighting Storm. I've instructed them to make sure she lives."

"What? Viper, we don't need Storm."

"What do you mean? I thought Storm was the only other one we needed."

"No, no, it's not the windrider," Stryker explained. "Tell them to withdraw. Her devilry is powerful, Viper, we can't lose our tools just yet."

"Then if not Storm, who else do we need?"

"I assure you, the last sample will not be difficult to obtain," The Professor said to her via radio. "We can consider the task complete, in fact."

"Then we have all of the samples we need," Viper grinned. "Good. I'll bring this over and you can begin your work, Professor. Then I can stop toying with these mutants and return to my duties. I am the acting commander of this country, after all."

"They're gone?" Evan asked. Colossus and Storm stood back up, but they enemies were gone. Storm waved her hand and the snowstorm ceased. There was no sign of any of them, not even footprints in the snow.

"They didn't take me..." Storm realized. "But they wanted Xavier. I hate to do this, but I'd better tell Magneto about this."

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Pyro idly played with a spare lighter in the hallway. Scott sat with him, staring at the ceiling. Several minutes had passed since either had said anything, and several hours had passed since anything of note had happened.

"So... seen any good movies lately?"

"Shut up, Pyro."

"Lighten up a little, Darkholme, I'm bored. Your mother and what's-his-name have been up in that meeting room with Magneto for hours."

"Yeah, and Wanda's with them," Scott lamented.

"Out of my way!" Beast yelled as he strode by. Scott and Pyro exchanged confused glances, then returned to their original positions. Moments later, Freddy and Jean ran by.

"Pyro, c'mon, we've got a situation with the younger students," Freddy stopped briefly enough to say.

"Well, why not?" Pyro shrugged, pocketed his lighter and ran after them. He turned and ran backwards. "Darkholme, you coming?"

"Eh," Scott replied, still seated.

"Suit yourself then." Pyro, Freddy and Jean arrived at the boys' dorms moments later. Beast had already arrived and Pietro stood over the bed of Jamie Madrox, who was covered in black-purple boils and lying motionless. Nearby, Dorian looked on fearfully, tears running out of his eyes.

"What happened?" Jean asked.

"We don't know," Pietro replied. "Dorian sent word to us, Magneto should be here soon."

"He's still breathing, and he has a pulse," Beast said. "But I've never seen growths like these before."

"It's legacy," Pyro said. "Scott's bro was shooting himself up with the stuff, I dunno how Jamie got ahold of it." Pyro looked over Jamie. "Never seen it go like this before."

"So what the hell are we supposed to do?"

"Nothing," Evan said, walking in. "There's no cure for it."

"And how do you know that?!" Jean asked.

"Because my aunt sold it. Two of her enforcers are infected just like Jamie. They've slipped into comas, but they're still alive. I don't know if it will pass, or if it'll kill them, or what."

"There has to be something!" Pyro yelled at him. "We're not letting any of these kids die!"

"I'm sorry, but there's nothing we can do."

"We can at least get him to the infirmary, we might be able to get him to a more stable condition," Beast said. He carried Jamie in his arms and ran out of the room. Magneto arrived after Beast had left.

"Yeah, he already took him," Pietro said to him. "He'll be fine, I'm sure." Evan cocked an eyebrow.

"Alright. In the meantime, I want the team in the meeting hall. We have some answers."

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Magneto's meeting room was, not surprisingly, rather full. Pietro, Wanda, Freddy, Jean, Beast, Pyro, Mystique, Storm, Warren, Callisto, Scott, Toad, Evan and Colossus all stood around. Magneto took a moment to clear his throat.

"Sorry we're late," Mastermind said, entering with Danielle, Kate and Robert.

"Yes, good of you to join us," Magneto grumbled. "I don't have to put up with this. Why is Danielle Moonstar here? I had you and Dorian and a mission because we were lacking in members. As you can see, the full team has been returned."

"She's trustworthy," Wanda said. "I've asked her to come."

"Okay, now why are Kate Pryde and Robert Drake here?"

"Yeah, who's watching the kids in the dorms?" Pietro asked.

"We need to settle this," Wanda said, taking initiative. "Kate, Robert, go down to the dorms and keep watch. Toad, Piotr, help them out."

"Awwww..." Toad whined. The four of them left the meeting room, sure that they would be briefed.

"I think Scott and Evan should do guard duty as well," Pietro suggested.

"No, I think they should hear this," Wanda insisted.

"Enough," Magneto said. "I'll let this crowd stay here, but I will not repeat myself, so pay close attention. The agents that attacked Storm last night were after a DNA sample from Charles Xavier to be added to the blood samples many of you unwillingly gave for this mysterious weapon that Stryker is building. Ororo's team managed to subdue or kill several of these agents, and those that weren't killed took cyanide pills to avoid capture, but one of them dropped his in the snow. Mastermind has finished interrogating him. What have you found?"

"The soldiers know as much as we do about the weapon itself. The central Hydra base is located in Washington, D.C., for the time being, but there is another base in London, where Stryker has been spending his time recently. If we can infiltrate this base, we will find all our answers."

"How can you be so sure?" Storm asked, skeptical.

"Because the true master dwells there. Viper answers to Stryker and Stryker answers to the man at the top... unfortunately, the soldier I interrogated had never actually been inside this master's chamber, but he knew where it was. We still don't know who this man is, what he's capable of, or even if he's a human or a mutant."

"What about Kurt?" Mystique asked.

"I'm sure we will find him there, and if not, we will find somebody who knows."

"Some of us will have to stay behind to watch the younger students," Magneto said. "Do I have any volunteers?" The room was silent. "Then I will volunteer someone. Callisto, Warren, you will stay here. Pryde and Drake will aid you."

"What? We have as much a right to go as anyone here!" Warren said.

"I want to help find Jubilee!" Callisto protested.

"You will both be a danger to the mission," Magneto said. "You have the will, but you are both out of practice. I assure you that Jubilee will be found, I will see to it. The rest of you will be divided into teams. Based on Mastermind's account of the readouts, we will enter the base from different sides."

"Right," Wanda said. "Who are the team leaders?"

"I've decided that you, Mystique and Stalwart will be the team leaders. Divide the others among yourselves."

"I'm leading my own team," Storm announced.

"If you want your own team, you'll only have two men to work with, because we will not be giving you any additional help."

"Alright, fine," Storm conceded.

"You have one hour to choose your teams and prepare. Be ready." Magneto left the room, followed by Pietro. As they walked down the hall, Pietro spoke up.

"Why didn't you choose me to lead one of the teams?"

"Because you're not ready. You spend more time running the systems here than training. Nobody can keep the Institute running as well as you, and those who are staying behind will depend on you to lead them in my absence."

"So why don't you have your own team?"

"I am taking a different approach. I alone am the fourth team. Alone, I don't have to worry about the safety of my team. Stryker and his new master will be no match for me at my full strength."

"Right." They walked in silence. "You know, once the Danger Room is up and running again, I'm going to sign up for more training sessions."

"Good. With practice, you will be as fit a leader as your sister."

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Juggernaut pushed aside two thick trees as he continued his path east. The thick jungle of the Yucatan Peninsula did little to hinder him, despite being so thick in some spots that he could not even see the sky. A long, heavy snake fell onto his domed helmet as he pushed another tree. He casually brushed it off before pushing two more trees. Juggernaut stopped, shielding his eyes from the fierce sun and observing his destination- an ancient Mayan pyramid, built with many steps on each of its four sides. Juggernaut recognized the pyramid and its significance, including its position in relation to the stars. He had visited this pyramid years before, with his colleagues. He had fond memories of the place and the many things he found inside. It was because of this that his goal brought sorrow to him, but it was also for this reason that he knew he had to do it.

Wasting no time, Juggernaut ran to the pyramid, pounding his massive fists into the stone stones, smashing and breaking them away. It was only a few minutes before he had broken through the outer layer and revealed the pyramid's true form, a polished metal shining in the sun's light, made of an alloy he could not identify. As more of the outer stone was broken away, markings, glowing blue, appeared, but they weren't in any language to Dr. Cain Marko was familiar with, almost as if they had come from a civilization unrelated to any on Earth. Soon, the polished metal began to dent and break. The characters continued to glow, glowing brighter with each impact of Juggernaut's fist, as if the pyramid was alive and had no other way of expressing its anger.

-------------------------------

The man on the stone platform yelled in outrage, in his deeper voice, screaming in his second tongue. Immediately, Hydra guards rushed in to see what had happened.

"Sir! What's the matter?"

"Leave me... LEAVE ME!" Frightened, the guards bowed and retreated. "Cain... you shouldn't have done this... you should have left the pyramid alone... this is treason, Cain..." He spoke in his second voice. "Yes... but it's too late for that now... deal with things one at a time... the mutant samples are complete... then we worry about the pyramids..."

He bellowed a command in his second voice.

"He is ours to do with what we will... he could repair them... maybe, even improve them..." The man said nothing for a few moments. Father Stryker and Madame Viper entered the room moments later, accompanied by the X-Cutioner and several green guards.

"You summoned us?" Viper asked.

"The pyramids... Juggernaut has destroyed the first... go there, and have Forge study the wreckage... then, bring him to me..."

"Yes, sir," Viper said. She bowed, along with the others, and exited the room. Outside of the large, poorly-lit room was a hallway made of medium-gray metal without shine. Four guards were placed outside the chamber, each bearing a different emblem on their shoulders and on their helmet and carrying large scimitars instead of rifles.

"The weapon is coming along well," Viper said to Stryker. "I do not understand what he wants with the pyramids."

"I don't get him either," Stryker admitted. "But we would be lost without him. His mind may be twisted, but his heart is in the right place. He is a firm believer in my cause."

"I will have Gauntlet take Forge and Mesmero to the pyramid. I've had enough of wasting my own time for these little excursions."

"Yes, stay here and oversee that the weapon is completed. I have somewhere to be at the moment."

"Very well," Viper replied, irritated. Stryker and the X-Cutioner took a different path down the hall and disappeared.

Wow. Anyway, those of you who read Age of Apocalypse: Alternate Reality will remember that chapter 11 was the bloodiest one of all (it may as well be known as the "EVERYONE DIES" chapter)... well, the same's going to be applied to this story. Chapter 11 will have action and violence, plus, a few things will at last be answered: what is the weapon, and why does it need mutant blood? Why does it need to be those specific mutants? Will those affected by Legacy die? And of course... who is the crazy man who's in charge of the Pure Blood Movement? It's all coming up!


	11. The Twelve

Huh? Right, okay. So we're at chapter eleven. There's not much to say here, except that "chapter eleven: the twelve" might be a little confusing. OH WELL! Oh, and excuse the grammar.

****

Chapter Eleven - The Twelve

A man with long black hair and a thick beard ran through the Hydra base in London, stopping to duck behind an alcove as guards passed through. His clothes were tattered and faded, though the most notable item he wore was a hooded gray coat. Once the guards had passed, he continued on his way, quickly running through the hall before he could be seen.

"I hope Proteus was right about this," said Paul McGregor, known in an alternate world as Shifter. Paul had been a soldier for the Pure Blood Movement until he was discovered to be a mutant. After the events in his reality led to the deaths of many of his friends and the ultimate defeat of Apocalypse, McGregor returned to the past- this was his mutant ability- to undo Apocalypse's reign.

McGregor- with the aid of Proteus, a powerful mutant who no longer had any physical form- arrived at the tomb of Apocalypse and succeeded in killing the tyrant before he could be released. He meant to also prevent Xavier's death, but he failed.

It was a strange situation, really. In the first reality- one many are familiar with- Apocalypse fought Professor Xavier and his X-Men until he was left weakened and ordered the mutant called Shifter to assassinate Xavier in the past. In the second reality- where Apocalypse reigned, and the Shifter who ran through the Hydra base hailed from- Paul McGregor never sided with Apocalypse, and when all was said and done, he went back in time to fix things. In the third reality- the one we see now- three Shifters exist: the older one from the first reality, though he has long since been killed by the second Shifter; a second Shifter, who was only around 15 when he traveled back in time; and a third Shifter, a natural Paul McGregor who probably has yet to discover he is a mutant.

Unfortunately for our Shifter, he found that there was a limit to his power: the amount of time it took for him to regain the energy to jump through time was proportionate to the amount of time he traveled; if he traveled five minutes, he had to wait five minutes before traveling again. As it was, Shifter's time jump was so large that, even as he ran through the Hydra base, he had yet to regain the energy to jump again.

Shifter came to one final hallway. Four guards, each armed with a scimitar and bearing different emblems, saw him and immediately positioned themselves to defend the door. Shifter slid under the first two guards, jumped to the right to avoid the blades of the last two, quickly pushing through the door and slamming it behind him. The guards began to push against the door, but then, they stopped.

"So you've made it here..." the man said, now standing on his stone platform, reading the hieroglyphics written on the stone behind it. "It's been too long, McGregor."

"I don't believe we've met," McGregor replied. "I came when I heard rumors."

"What sort of rumors?"

"Apocalypse is alive."

"Of course he is," the man replied, as if this was common knowledge. "It takes great power to kill Apocalypse. What you did was destroy his body... with his last ounce of strength, he channeled his life force into an astral spirit who could not interact with the physical world." The man's British accent made him sound scholarly, and he did seem to know what he was talking about. "Some time after that, three scientists found his tomb in the mountains. His astral spirit, too weak to leave the tomb, used one of them as a vessel." The man turned around to face Shifter. His clothes were filthy and his eyes were tired. Though his body had the frame of a man who did much traveling in his youth, he appeared to be thinning from a lack of nourishment and he had many small cuts on his face. His black, graying hair was messy, as was his beard, and his black-rimmed glasses were broken, yet he still wore them. "Apocalypse lives in me."

"So whose side are you on, Apocalypse? You're helping Stryker kill mutants, but you're a mutant yourself."

"Stryker is a fool. He knows little about my plans... and even less about his own origins. Apocalypse isn't acting for the good of humans or mutants. He acts solely for himself. Really, this has gone on too long, McGregor. You came here to put an end to Apocalypse once and for all."

"I did."

"But the one you call Proteus isn't with you," the man said with a grin. "He helped you destroy En Sabah Nur's body, but he himself has faded. By absorbing Apocalypse's body, he gained so much strength that he now exists in another plane, unable to affect ours. He has a connection to you only because of the time portal you both slide through... he can speak to you and you alone."

"...How do you know all this?"

"Apocalypse's power is my power. Did you think that just because he was weak that he was impotent?" The man raised his hand and McGregor was lifted off the ground. "He still needs my body. Without it, he can do nothing. Through me he can properly focus his power, as weak as it may be. Now, I think it's time for proper goodbyes, McGregor." McGregor felt pressure against his head from every side, outside and in, and felt blood leaking from his nose and ears.

"P...put... me... d-d-d...down..."

The man grinned. His eyes glowed white, and he spoke to McGregor in Ancient Egyptian. The pressure increased. Within moments, McGregor dropped to the ground, limp and crying blood. Apocalypse's grin widened. His eyes stopped glowing and the man looked down in horror.

"You didn't have to do that." Apocalypse replied to him. "He posed no threat to you... you're a sadist." Apocalypse roared at him. "No... you wish I had told him, didn't you? Well, I didn't. He died without knowing... you won't win this, Apocalypse... you've been stopped before. You have too many powerful enemies for this to work."

Apocalypse laughed. The man dropped to the ground in a fetal position, clutching his head and rocking on his side. Apocalypse terrified him; he only wished to be alone, and if not, then that someone would take advantage of Apocalypse's limited power and kill them both.

All the man had was false hope, and utter fear.

-------------------------------

Gambit and Tabby had been moved to the medical ward after Storm's arrival at the Xavier Institute, joining Jamie Madrox in a separate enclosure. Soon, Robert and Kate ran in, carrying Amara Aquila, also covered in dark boils and clearly unconscious.

"Whoa, whoa, another one?" Lance asked from his bed, still recovering from the knife wound inflicted on his shoulder.

"It's sweeping through the dorms," Berzerker said. He sat in a chair next to Lance's bed. There were several cards laid out on the side of Lance's bed, and with little else to pass the time, he and Berzerker had been playing, though neither knew the same games, so it was unclear exactly what they were doing. Scaleface was still asleep in another bed and Torpid was sitting up, watching the scene with a look of worry.

"That legacy stuff still seems to be making the rounds," Robert explained after Amara was safe in a bed behind the curtain dividing the room. "The ones Evan's aunt brought in seem to be the worst cases, but they haven't changed any."

"A few people back in the Morlock tunnels used legacy, but it never got this bad. They went months without getting this sick."

"The other kids said Amara had just started," Kate said.

"That's crazy, Evan told us the two he brought in had been using the stuff for months, the girl had been addicted for a long time," Lance explained.

"Maybe it's getting stronger on its own," Kate suggested, worried.

"I think that's the best explanation we have right now."

-------------------------------

Three large spheres hovered over the Xavier Institute, joined by a smaller fourth sphere. Inside the first sphere, Wanda sat on a metal seat of sorts and sitting in a circle around her were Scott, Pyro, Danielle and Toad. Though not the most skilled operatives, Wanda had chosen them for her team because, as she saw on their last mission, they worked well together.

In the center of the sphere's floor, an equal distance from each inward-facing seat, a small pillar emerged, extending into a small stand. A hologram of Magneto appeared, facing Wanda.

"Scarlet Witch, are all team members secured and ready?" he asked.

"We are ready to go, sir."

"Your team will land at the Western Gate. Your first objective is to secure the west wing of the London compound." Magneto disappeared and a hologram of the London base, as drawn from the guard's minds by Mastermind. "Your second objective is to get to the central lab and destroy the weapon."

"How will we know what the weapon looks like?"

"The guards weren't allowed that information. You'll have to find someone in the lab and interrogate them." Magneto's hologram returned. "Stalwart's team will take the South Gate and create a diversion to draw out their forces. Mystique's team will secure the Northern Gate and free any prisoners. Myself... I will take the East Gate and find Caliban's master."

"Understood. Good luck to you, da... Magneto."

"And good luck to you, Wanda." Magneto disappeared and the projector lowered back down to the floor. Wanda felt the floor tremble slightly and felt the balance shift. They had started moving and at high speed.

"I'm never going to get used to this," Pyro complained. "Wanda, tell me we get to use a chopper next time."

"I don't know that we will," she replied.

"Ah well. Maybe we're not coming back, who cares? We'll get some kicks out of this, eh, Darkholme?"

"Yeah, at least there's that," Scott replied with dull sarcasm.

-------------------------------

Stryker sat in one of the conference rooms, reading from the Bible; though he appeared to be patient, he had been sitting there for an hour. He had been expecting someone, but they were quite late. Stryker was alone; the X-Cutioner was elsewhere on the base. There were no guards in the room. If he wasn't careful, an enemy could sneak in and kill him without getting much of a fight. Stryker enjoyed the solitude, he had to admit to himself, even if he was being kept there only by someone else's tardiness.

"Father Stryker, my apologies for the delay," The Professor excused himself as he entered the conference room. Four guard accompanied him, as well as two mutants: Forge, kept in line by the lobotomized Mesmero. "The mutant took his time analyzing the broken pyramid in the Yucatan."

"Yes, yes, I've waited enough. What news do you have?"

"Good news, father. He understands the technology well enough. Originally, there were four pyramids, but with one destroyed, the remaining three are useless. Forge has come up with a clever solution." The Professor nodded and Mesmero forced Forge to reveal a set of blueprints, depicting a tower of sorts. "He drew this up on the way back. He can re-create the technology, to a degree, taking parts from the remaining pyramids and creating a series of towers that would serve the same purpose, seven in all."

"How long will it take for him to build these towers?" an aggravated Stryker asked.

"About two years."

"What effect will this have on the weapon itself?"

"Fortunately for us, none. The pyramids aren't directly related to the weapon, though their effect is dependent on it. All this means is that we'll have to wait two years before a safeguard can be put up, but the weapon is powerful enough that we may not even need that safeguard."

"Regardless, I want you working as fast as you can to get those towers built," Stryker commanded. "We can't afford to take any chances. Those abominations need to be removed. Now, get this one to work immediately."

"Yes, Father Stryker." The Professor nodded to him and left the room, taking Forge and Mesmero with him. Stryker sighed and returned to his Bible. Only a minute had passed before a light began to blink on the conference table. Annoyed, Stryker put the Book down and pressed a switch next to the light.

"What is it?"

"Father Stryker, we have intruders," a captain said.

"So take care of them. Don't bother me again."

"I insist," Viper said, taking over. "Magneto is here. He has brought a few playmates for us."

"Very well." Stryker flipped off the intercom. He took his book and shook his head as he left his moment of peace behind.

-------------------------------

"You all know what to do," Freddy said to his team as they left their sphere at the South Gate. Jean, Beast and Colossus stood with him, watching as Freddy pulled off the steel gate at the entrance, leading into a concrete tunnel. The momeny the gate was down, alarms went off, bright red lights flashing them and loud klaxons alerting base security.

"If we want to fool them, we'll have to make it seem like we're attempting something," Beast reminded them. "Any volunteers?"

"Gladly." Jean ran into the tunnel. There were gunshots and Jean quickly retreated, shielding herself with telekinesis. A swarm of armed soldiers ran out- more than they had anticipated. Colossus charged into them, slamming his metal fists wildly through the crowd and knocking a multitude of Hydra soldiers off their feet. Jean lifted several of the fallen soldiers off the ground, taking their weapons from them before dropping them back onto the unsuspecting crowd below.

"Ah, thank you," Beast said, taking one of the rifles Jean handed him. "I'd prefer not to, but they fired first, didn't they?"

"Hey, you're hogging the show here," Freddy yelled to Colossus as he plowed through the soldiers, his thick body protecting him from the enemy fire. Beast picked off any soldiers they missed, trying as hard as he could to hit them in non-lethal spots. Jean showed less restraint, hovering above them with a row of ten rifles aimed at the gate entrance.

"This almost feels too easy," Jean said. "Why haven't they sent any of the big guns in?"

"They might be on to us," Beast worried.

"Stay focused!" Freddy called back to them before hurling a soldier so high that the impact of his landing was enough to take him out. "We have a job to do and we're seeing it through!"

Mystique moved through the northern tunnel with no resistance. Storm, Evan and Rogue were with her. Evan spiked three guards as they approached the cell block.

"Storm, would you be so kind as to find us a way in?" Mystique asked.

"Only because I have no choice." Storm created a horizontal whirlwind that drilled a small hole into the steel door of the cell block and slowly widened as it grew stronger. A minute later, the hole was large enough to fit a person. Mystique was about to enter, but Storm quickly ran through first. Mystique's eyes narrowed before she entered, followed by Rogue and finally Evan, who was watching their backs. He took a quick look behind him before going in.

"We need backup at the West Gate, I repeat, we nee-AAAAAAH!" The block captain's mind was shut down by Danielle and he dropped the radio in his hands. Toad sat on a soldier with a broken back and Wanda was making sure the cameras were offline. Scott and Pyro looked into the tunnel ahead.

"It's clear," Scott told them.

"Alright, move forward," Wanda commanded. "Pyro, cover the rear."

"Gotcha." As the others moved forwards, Pyro walked backwards with both flamethrowers held up. "Nobody's sneaking up on this squad while I'm watching their backs..."

"The lab is further down this hallway, if those readouts were correct. Once inside, I want Scott and Danielle to secure it. Toad, you check for any cameras or bugs. We shouldn't have too much resistance."

"You know, this almost feels too easy..." Toad said out loud.

"Right. I want all of you on guard. They know we're here, they're bound to spring a few surprises."

"What do you mean it's empty?!" Storm demanded. All of the cell doors were open, but there was nobody inside- no prisoners, no guards.

"They must've moved them when they heard us coming," Mystique deduced. "If we can find someone who knows, we'll be in business. Marie, get ready. Evan, Ororo, I want you to incapacitate the next soldier we see."

"If I had been put in charge, we wouldn't have found the base like this," Storm muttered.

"I don't see how my leadership changes the fact that this room is empty."

"Isn't it obvious! If you worked with more subtlety, they wouldn't have known we were coming."

"Either way, they would have seen one of the other teams and done something about it. Honestly, Ororo, you're not a teenager anymore, start acting your age!"

"Both of you, shut up!" Evan yelled. Mystique and Storm were both surprised. "If you'd stop arguing about who's in charge for a moment, you'll see that Rogue and I found someone." A lone soldier was pinned to the wall with a bone-spike. Rogue carefully removed her glove and pressed her hand against his forehead. The soldier shrieked before going limp. Rogue kept her eyes closed for a moment.

"What did you find?" Mystique asked.

"...They've been moved to the central lab."

"This soldier was alone... did you see anyone else?"

"No, it was just this guy," Evan said.

"It's risky, but we don't have anything else." Mystique looked at him for a moment. "Marie, what's his name?"

"James Dawson." Mystique's form changed accordingly and she took Dawson's weapon.

"We'll stay in contact. I'll see if I can't get any information elsewhere. Ororo, take them to the central lab and get everyone out of there. I'm trusting you on this, don't make me regret it."

"You certainly will not. Let's go." Storm led Evan and Rogue down one end of the hall as "Dawson" ran down another. Mystique shifted her shoulder slightly; now it appeared "Dawson" was wounded. Two guards stopped her at the turn of another hall.

"Dawson, what happened?" One of the guards asked.

"I was running late, I had to get to the south gate, one of the mutants got inside and shot me with some kind of bone thing..."

"South gate? We send you to the north gate, Dawson. See?" he said to the other guard. "I told you this kid has hearing problems. Get to the med ward."

"I... ah... too weak..." "Dawson" fell to the ground, dropping his rifle.

"Shit. C'mon, we better take him ourselves." The guards picked "Dawson" off the ground and carried him away.

-------------------------------

Father Stryker stood with the Professor on an elevated platform in the central lab. They faced a large metal sphere, much like those Magneto used, though there were grooves running along the surface. The sphere was attached to several cords, themselves attached to various machines stacked around the sphere. Large mechanical arms hung from the ceiling, moving those machines and injecting red and gray fluids into the sphere through the cut grooves. Viper stood across the lab in an open area behind them, addressing several gathered warriors.

"This is a great risk to us," Viper explained. "We are taking no chances this time. I want you to kill every last member of Magneto's team, do you hear me? We will not take prisoners this time. The losses of Omega Red and Juggernaut will slow us down, but they will not stop us."

Kurt Darkholme's black tail whipped behind him. Jubilee and Sabretooth stood with him, joined by a man wearing a steel helmet and another dressed like a Hydra guard- a green-skinned man with a high-tech monocle attached to his eye.

"Commander Gauntlet," Viper addressed the man by his codename. "I have great faith in your abilities. Do not disappoint me."

"We will not, Supreme Hydra," Gauntlet said in his deep voice, bowing. "Nothing will stand in our way."

"And you are sure this new one will obey?" Viper asked, gesturing towards the man with the steel helmet.

"Creed posed no problem, neither will Weapon X."

"Good. You have your orders." Viper dismissed the team. At Gauntlet's command, they rushed out of the room. The massive lab door shut tightly, ensuring their safety while inside. "Professor, how is the weapon coming along?"

"All twelve samples have been accepted," The Professor announced proudly. "Charles Xavier, Cain Marko, Raven Darkholme, Kurt Darkholme, Arkady Rossovich, Jubilation Lee, Victor Creed, Lance Alvers, Jean Grey, Alex Summers, Caliban and... the last sample. Considering we had to brainwash most of them and rob two graves, this isn't a bad turnout."

"What was the last sample?" Viper asked.

"I... uh..."

"Do not hide things from your superior officers, Professor."

"The last one was..." The Professor looked at Viper and Stryker nervously. "I spoke with Dr. Essex... he told me to use a sample from Father Stryker..."

"What?!" Stryker yelled in outrage. "Where did you obtain a sample of my blood?"

"I took it from the Trask Examination last month..." The Trask Examination, named for the Pure Blood Movement's founder, Bolivar Trask, was a test that ensured the loyalty of Pure Blood members. Blood samples were taken at random intervals and tested to ensure that all members are pure humans. Even Father Stryker agreed to these examinations as a show of good faith, though it did anger him inwardly that his purity was brought into question. It was bad enough that he had a mutant son, the last thing Stryker wanted was for the men to suspect him of having mutant genes...

"And you kept this from me for what reason?!"

"I... Dr. Essex... he told me to... he said..."

"Enough! It doesn't matter what you needed my blood for. If that's what it takes to get this thing running, then you have my blessing, fine, I don't care. Now get it working."

"We can't rely on Gauntlet," Viper said. "How long until the weapon is finished?"

"It shouldn't be more than an hour..." The mechanical arms retracted and left the sphere. The machines operated steadily and generated a low humming noise. The sphere began to hover a few feet off the ground, the cables and cords floating with it. Viper could feel her hair and coat defying gravity slightly.

"Is this it?" Stryker asked impatiently. "Is it operational yet?"

"No, no, it's powering up. I told you it would be about an hour." Stryker glared at the sphere impatiently.

The man rocked back and forth on his platform, muttering to himself again. Apocalypse roared at him. The man whispered a quick reply and stood up.

"It is almost ready..."

"I'm surprised to find you here, Dr. Essex." Magneto stood at the entrance, the open doors behind him revealing the four guards impaled on the walls with their own scimitars. Dr. Essex, as the man who served as a vessel for Apocalypse was known, stood up and turned to face him. "I expected someone more... intimidating."

"I'm not in this alone, Magneto. En Sabah Nur lives in me. We share a body, but our minds are separate. His power is weak, but I can't do anything without his approval."

"You fooled us all at the debate a few weeks ago," Magneto told him. "You didn't seem so mad. Stryker is a better actor than I thought."

"When we need to, Apocalypse lets me take full control... I can't do it alone, he has to let me." Dr. Essex looked down at his tense hands. "As for Stryker... at the time, he didn't know. I haven't been with the Pure Blood Movement for long, but my knowledge and a little feigned devotion to his religion has made Stryker subservient to me. After Trask's death, Stryker was left in charge, but he's weaker than he pretends to be. He's just a hypocrite trying to convince the world of his sainthood when he himself knows he doesn't deserve that reputation. He thinks his mutant son is loyal only to him. He doesn't realize that I've been training Caliban since he was abandoned in Ireland so long ago."

"Were you always this eager to please him, Essex? You sound mighty proud of your master."

"No, not at all..." Essex's eyes narrowed. "I hate him. I hate everything he's done and everything he wants to do... I want him to leave me, to let me be my own man again. I've tried killing myself to get rid of him... but he won't allow it. He controls me... he tells me what to say... and I say it." Essex's moment of regret passed. "I am a good servant, even if I have to have my psyche tortured to assure my obedience."

"Then I will free you." The scimitars pulled away from the guards and flew at Dr. Essex, but they stopped before his raised hands. "You're not as weak as I thought."

"I am, Magneto. My loathsome master isn't." The swords were thrown aside. "You didn't come to kill him, Magneto. You came for answers." Dr. Essex stepped off his platform, appearing more relaxed and confident. "I'll do my best to provide those answers for you."

"You have no information that I need."

"I speak for Apocalypse now. He wants you to know that mutants are not under any danger."

"Yet he surrounds himself with bigots."

"If they suit his purposes, yes. En Sabah Nur is a clever man, Magneto, he oversees all plans to the finest detail. He is in this for himself, he is a perfect Machiavellian mastermind, he could lure his minions to their very deaths if it suited him. Whatever it is you're here for, I pray that you're not too late, though I know that you are, if that makes any sense to you."

"Incoming!" Evan yelled. Rogue and Storm ducked a burst of colorful energy. Jubilee's hands launched a continuing stream of starburst energy that Storm unsuccessfully tried to deflect with a spray of wind. Though the energy was unaffected, Jubilee was hurled backwards, ending her attack.

"They're still using her as a soldier," Storm said.

"Kurt, too," Rogue said. Kurt appeared behind them, whipping his tail against the floor. Evan looked behind Jubilee and noticed Sabretooth creeping up, preparing to pounce, but holding back. Next to Kurt, Gauntlet appeared, aiming twin pistols at them.

"You're outnumbered," Gauntlet announced. "Even your weather powers won't stop us all at once."

"Then kill us," Storm dared him.

"Creed," Gauntlet commanded. Sabretooth growled and Evan instinctively launched a spike at his chest. Roaring, Sabretooth struggled on the ground, pulling it out. Gauntlet fired a blast at Storm's back and knocked her to the ground. The others remained perfectly still. Gauntlet aimed his pistols at Evan and Rogue. Evan looked at Gauntlet's scope-eye, trying to see what he was going to do. Jubilee began to move closer.

"You'll have to kill us, too," Evan said.

"You're more valuable alive." Kurt and Jubilee took Evan and Rogue, pulling their hands behind them and shackling them. They offered no resistance. Gauntlet himself took Storm over his shoulder. "Take them back to Madame Viper. Creed, when you're done bleeding all over our floor, meet me at the South Gate. I've already sent Weapon X there."

"Yeah," Creed growled. He sneered at Gauntlet as he walked away.

"This is new," Freddy said to himself. The flow of soldiers had slowed down considerably, but one in particular drew the attention of the team. Dressed in gray fatigues and wearing a silver helmet with wires running into his collars, Weapon X held up his fists and extended the adamantium claws that had been grafted to his skeletal structure by the Professor.

"I know this one," Colossus said. "Leave him to me." Colossus leaned forward and bent down to grab Weapon X, but he was too quick for him, running between Colossus's metal legs and raised his claws as he approached Beast. "He is coming towards you!"

"I can see that for myself, thank you." Beast jumped up and climbed onto their transportation sphere, but Weapon X used his claws to climb up after him. "A little assistance would be appreciated."

"There you go," Jean replied. Weapon X was pulled off the sphere and held up in midair. "If you ask me, we should get rid of him before he causes any more trouble."

"No need to be so rough on him," Freddy advised her. "We'll just knock him out for a little while. Care to do the honors, Colossus?"

"Gladly." Colossus pulled back, but Weapon X suddenly dropped on him, clawing at him wildly, but leaving only scratches on Colossus's shiny metal skin. Colossus grabbed him and threw him against the side of the sphere and Weapon X fell to the ground with a large crack in his sparking helmet. "What happened?"

"I did," Gauntlet announced. Freddy tended to Jean, who had been knocked over by a concussive blast from one of Gauntlet's large rifles. "Now we make deals. You all come quietly or I take you in by force."

"You caught me by surprise, that's all," Jean said, waking up. "I don't like it when people shoot at me!" Gauntlet's rifle was pulled from his arms and pushed against the underside of his chin. "You better apologize to me now or I'll blow your fucking brains out with your own gun."

Gauntlet grinned with his hideous teeth.

"What the fuck are you so happy about?!"

"ARRRGHH!" Beast yelled in simian fashion and fell forward, clutching at the ground in pain. Blood coated his fur, pouring out from six precise holes in his back. Weapon X stood again, his helmet still broken and sparking.

"Come here!" Colossus yelled. He reached down, but again, Weapon X escaped his grasp. Freddy ran to Beast, looking over his wounds and realized that the blood was quickly leaving him.

"Hang in there, Hank, we'll get you back to the Institute... Jean, see if you can stop the blood flow..."

"Right, let's see..." Jean concentrated and held her hands steady. Colossus was busy trying to grab Weapon X, who jumped onto his back and used him as a springboard, grabbing Gauntlet out of the air.

"What do you think you're doing?!" Gauntlet yelled. He pushed Weapon X off and draw one of his pistols, blasting Weapon X off of him. Weapon X landed on his feet with only minor scorch marks on his chest and gnashed his teeth. "Stay back!" Gauntlet adjusted his pistol and fired a more powerful blast, missing Weapon X by inches. As the feral mutant drew closer, Gauntlet's aim grew worse until Weapon X cleaved the pistol with one upward slice of his claws, and with a reversed downward blow, Gauntlet's right arm lay twitching at his feet. Weapon X raised his other hand for a final blow, but he stopped... something drew his attention. A scent. Weapon X ran back into the South Gate, disappearing into the darkness.

"Gauntlet to Hydra Command," Gauntlet said, holding a radio with his remaining hand. "Weapon X has gone rogue. Again." Gauntlet dropped the radio and clutched the bleeding wound.

"I know Logan," Colossus said to Gauntlet. "He can be a wild man if not checked. This helmet of yours appears to have failed."

"I noticed. I'll deal with you later." Gauntlet ran into the base. Concerned, Colossus turned back to Beast.

"We've stopped the bleeding, but he needs treatment," Freddy told him. "Jean, you better take the sphere and get back to the institute."

"I can't just leave you two here!"

"You're the only one who can contain his blood flow, you have to go with him." Freddy entered the sphere and pressed a button on the arm of his chair. The central platform was raised and Freddy pressed a few buttons next to the hologram projector. "It's set to go back on its own. Get in there and get him all fixed up."

"The two of you better join the others, then. Good luck."

"You know me, I don't need luck." Jean kissed Freddy, holding her lips in place for a few moments before letting go as he stepped out of the sphere. The opening hatch sealed and the bottom of the sphere began to glow white, then rose off the ground and upwards into the sky. "Alright. C'mon, Piotr, we'll join up with Storm's team."

"This should be it," Toad said to the others in front of a large rectangular door. "Any idea how to get in?"

"We fry this door," Pyro suggested. "Get your bibs on, mates, we're having an old fashioned barbecue!" The door suddenly rose upward. "Or I can just scare the door with my threats!"

"Or I could've just shorted out the panel," Wanda corrected him, pointing to the sizzled keypad next to the door. Wanda was the first inside, followed by Toad, Danielle, Scott and finally, Pyro. The lab was larger than any of them expected, and there were less people, as well. Evan, Rogue and Storm were in the center of the room, shackled and wearing inhibitor collars. Behind them, on a raised platform, Father Stryker sat in a comfortable chair next to the Professor and Madame Viper. There was nobody else in the central lab- no scientists, no soldiers, no guards, not even the X-Cutioner.

"So Gauntlet is more incompetent than I imagined," Viper said, gritting her teeth. "But, this is no setback for us." Scott looked behind him as the door shut again. Kurt and Jubilee had entered the room. "Your old friends were more than willing to do my bidding."

"Hey, bro," Toad called to Kurt. Kurt's face showed no expression; it was as if he no longer had a mind, at least not while under Viper's control. "Right..."

"That must be the weapon," Wanda said, pointing to the floating sphere connected to an array of machines. "Am I right?"

"That you are, my dear," the Professor said before Viper could reply. "I collaborated with some of Hydra's top scientists to create this masterpiece. I'd tell you what it does, but that would spoil the surprise. Madame Viper, will our guests be staying long enough to see this?"

"I've found that giving our enemies a demonstration buys them too much time. Darkholme, Lee, finish them."

"Well, what happened to you?" One of the medics asked Gauntlet as he ran into the med ward. "Oh my... nurse! Tend to the commander, he's been dealt a serious injury! Hang in there!" As the nursing staff took Gauntlet away, the "doctor" changed into Gauntlet, taking a radio from one of the shelves. "Madame Viper, Gauntlet here."

"Your work is sloppy, Gauntlet."

"My apologies. The cell block has been secured, but the way there is blocked. I have two more of Magneto's little group with me. Where do you want them?"

"Which two?"

"Uh... Stalwart and the metal Russian."

"Bring them up to the lab. Where is Weapon X? We've stopped detecting him."

"I sent him to the North hall to check out the damage."

"Good work, Gauntlet. Bring those two back up to the lab. Whenever Weapon X and Sabretooth are finished, send them back here as well." Unaware that the prisoners she was meant to free were under Viper's control and already in the lab, Mystique changed into a young soldier and ran towards the central lab.

"The cell block is empty," Colossus noted as he and Freddy arrived. "They must have been moved."

"But where to?"

"To the central lab," a young soldier yelled as he ran up to them. As both raised their fists, Mystique changed her face back to her default form for a moment and they relaxed. "This is a coincidence, I just told Viper I captured the two of you. Follow me."

Weapon X plunged his claws into the wall, barely missing Sabretooth, who mauled his helmet off. It hung off Logan's back by the wires until Logan himself pulled it off and threw it at Sabretooth's face.

"What do we do about this?" one Hydra soldier asked another.

"I guess we let them work it out..."

-------------------------------

Pietro entered the infirmary with Callisto and Warren. Two more students had been admitted due to legacy infections since Amara. Scaleface and Berzerker sat on a bed with Torpid and Lance had just woken up.

"What's going on?" he asked.

"Warren came to get me," Pietro explained. He pulled the curtain aside- the legacy patients were worse than ever. Their boils were now black and thin, purple vein-like marks were ground outwards along the skin. Pietro noticed that Tabitha's hands were tensing up. She dropped a small marble-sized bomb that went off with a mild pop. Next to her, Gambit's forearms had been tied together with a splint separating them outward to keep him from charging anything. A second and third Jamie rolled off the bed, disappearing when they hit the floor. Amara was the worst case of all. The frame of her bed had melted and fused to the floor and her mattress was little more than a pile of smoking ashes. Small fires began to appear along her body and smoke flew out of her mouth. "I don't think there's anything we can do for them."

"There has to be something," Dorian Leech asked. He had followed them in without their notice. "They're going to die, aren't they?"

"We don't know for sure," Pietro said. "Their powers are out of their control now. Dorian, how is this still spreading?"

"Uh..."

"Look, do you care about your teammates or do you care about saving your own skin?"

"Roberto had some legacy, he was sharing it. I didn't take any, and nobody is else either anymore."

"Yeah, I figured. It's like they turn this bad the moment the needle touches them. This doesn't make any sense." A ring of fire appeared around Amara, forcing the others back. "We can't risk this spreading. Move the others to the staff dorms. We'll keep an eye on this room. Don't let anybody come inside. Callisto, I want a full search of the girls' dorm, Warren will take the boys. I want every last syringe of legacy found, confiscated and destroyed. Well, what are you standing around for? Move! Move! Move!"

"You're a lot like your father," Warren said.

"No time for that. Get going. I'm regulating the temperature in this room, hopefully some cool air might slow the infection."

-------------------------------

"You've spent your life following a worthless dream, Magnus," Dr. Essex exclaimed, shielding himself from the metal panels Magneto pulled from the halls outside. He threw him back, but Magneto hovered out of their way. "At least, it make a waste when you followed Xavier's dream. What happened to the man who felt mutants would inherit the Earth?"

"He grew up." A scimitar sliced Dr. Essex's shoulder, spilling blood on his stone platform. "I've suffered so much for this dream, Essex, I'm not about to abandon it at the insistence of someone's puppet."

"Your sight has weakened, Magnus. I went to Tibet with an open mind and it cost me. If you expect to win this, your resolve must be... ironclad, as you once put it." Dr. Essex stopped. "Oh... I see. I have to be leaving now, but I'll give you somebody to play with in the meantime."

The X-Cutioner enter the room with a staff. Magneto landed, turning to face him. "Caliban is no match for me."

"Perhaps not, but we don't need him to beat you." Dr. Essex floated from his platform to the ground. Magneto raised his hand, but the X-Cutioner thwapped him in the head with his staff, allowing Dr. Essex to walk casually out of the chamber. Magneto attempted to pull the staff, but it wasn't reacting.

"Clever. No metal on you."

"I am not as foolish as you believe me to be." Magneto avoided the staff again, then a kick and another blow of the staff. "I could have been on your side, Magneto. You did not appreciate me the way the master does."

"You were too eager for revenge, Caliban." Magneto caught the staff for a moment and pushed the X-Cutioner away. The scimitars floated around him and he struck at his opponent, but the X-Cutioner cleverly dodged him, spinning and jumping to avoid the four swords and swatting them away with his staff. "I could not guide you if you didn't allow me."

"Your mission was flawed, Magneto. My master has opened my eyes."

"But is your master not a mutant?"

"He is," the X-Cutioner admitted. "He is a mutant, as I am. His actions will benefit all mutants."

"Is he not also going against the wishes of your father?" The X-Cutioner was thrown off his balance by Magneto's question, allowing a scimitar to come close to his head. He was quick enough to avoid any serious damage, but the blade cut the top of his hood, letting it fall and revealing his cold, scarred and embittered face. Caliban was as pale as Magneto remembered him, but where his eyes were once squinty and shy, they were now wide and fiery, filled with equal anger towards mutant and human.

"My father will be spared," Caliban said, more to himself than to Magneto. "He is not an evil man, only misguided. He will see the truth soon enough."

"Not an evil man? Your father abandoned you for the sake of his own career."

"He did what he had to. His duty to the Lord came before his duties as a father."

"He even tried to kill you to hide his shame. Did he tell you that?"

"The master told me." Caliban knocked a scimitar back. "My father was not in his right mind."

"Did your master tell you about your mother?"

Pyro's fire shield protected Danielle and himself from Jubilee's powerful blasts as Scott knocked her away. Kurt jumped onto his back and pushed his glasses off. Wanda hexed him into teleporting across the room, then quickly grabbed Scott's glasses and slipped them back on.

"Thanks, Wanda."

Toad kicked Kurt away, just as "Gauntlet" entered the room with Colossus and Freddy. When Gauntlet became Mystique, Jubilee and Kurt both looked up, surprised and confused.

"Pyro, Toad, now!" Wanda yelled.

"Righto!" Pyro created a flame raven that jumped towards the shackles holding Evan's hands together. With the links heated, he was able to pull them apart quickly and the raven jumped onto Storm's hands. Toad hopped on Evan's back, taking a screwdriver from his pocket.

"Hey, hey, watch it!"

"Hang on just a second, I'll get that collar off..."

"Danielle, Scott!" Wanda commanded. Scott nodded and knocked Jubilee into the wall and taking her out of the fight. Danielle raised her hands and Kurt grabbed his head, quivering in fear.

"Be careful with him," Mystique said. Though Toad was still trying to take the collar off Evan, Storm and Rogue were free. Using her hex powers, Wanda shorted out the collars and allowed Colossus and Freddy to pull them off.

"So, we have a family reunion," Viper said. The team now facing her was indeed formidable- Wanda, Scott, Pyro, Danielle, Toad, Evan, Rogue, Storm, Colossus, Freddy and Mystique. Kurt and Jubilee were still on Viper's side. "I must admit, this is a little scary."

"They are nothing," Dr. Essex proclaimed, entering the room. He raised his hand, but nothing happened. Everyone waited, wondering what he would do.

"Yeaarh... aaah.... AAAAH!" Kurt began to scream.

"Kurt! Let him go!" Mystique yelled.

"It's not me!" Danielle pleaded.

"No, it's not," Father Stryker said, standing up. "He's a mutant. I should have known."

"Relax, priest, he is not what he appears to be," Viper said. "Allow me to explain, to you and our mutant friends. Dr. Essex, under the guidance of his master, created a special virus that affects only mutants. It was up to Hydra agents to distribute it among the underworld, selling it as a drug."

"I should have known," Storm muttered to herself.

"Dr. Essex created it under the orders of Bolivar Trask, our late and beloved founder and leader. He is gone, but he left this legacy for all mutantkind... a fitting name for the narcotic substance. I'm not certain how it works, but the virus cells are all linked somehow, meaning that all cases of legacy infection are at the same level of severity. Darkholme's case seems to have been stalled somehow, but it has been activated now. Soon, spores will be released from his body, infecting every mutant in the room with his lethal condition." Purple veins and black boils appeared on Kurt's body and he emitted a flash of light and smoke, but went nowhere- he was teleporting in place.

"You MONSTER!" Mystique yelled. She jumped at Viper, foolishly. With a flash of Viper's concealed pistol, Mystique slid on the floor and found that she had little strength to get back up. "Monster..."

"Don't be so dramatic, Mystique, I would not dream of cutting your time with your children short. That wound is not fatal."

"I can't say the same about this!" Scott yelled, hitting Viper with a powerful red blast, knocking her against the spherical weapon behind her. Toad and Rogue were hopping and running to the platform to finish Viper off.

"WAIT!" Wanda yelled. "Stop right there!"

"I'm finishing her myself!" Scott yelled back.

"Don't move! That's an order, Scott!"

"WHY THE FUCK NOT?!" Wanda looked up at the platform and Scott followed. The Professor stood next to one of the machines attached to the sphere, a blue light shining on his wrinkled, grinning face.

"Because the weapon is ready," Dr. Essex announced.

"You know nothing of my mother," Caliban retorted. He swatted away a scimitar. Magneto pulled the swords back, giving Caliban space. "You won't fool me."

"Your master never told you the truth, did he? What DID he tell you about her?"

"Nothing, he told me nothing!" Caliban yelled, his raspy voice cracking.

"Then I will tell you. Your mother was a nun, Caliban. Father Stryker loved her, but she did not love him in return. A nun and a priest, it was forbidden, but your mother had no feelings for him, not even in secret. Your father raped her in his rage."

"I know you, Magneto, you are nothing but a liar. Your words can't dissuade me."

"Did you know that your mother was killed for giving birth to you?"

"She produced a mutant, she had to pay for her crime."

"And so must your father. His sins are numerous, Caliban. In order to cover his tracks when he lost you, he burned down an orphanage, claiming you had died in the fire."

"...No... he wouldn't do that..."

"Your father was a rapist and a murderer, Caliban. He is using you now, Caliban. Believe me when I tell you that he has every intention of destroying you once this plan is complete." Magneto let the scimitars float down, setting them gently on the floor. "Come back to us, Caliban. Your past mistakes will not be forgotten, but they may be forgiven."

"You... you would forgive me?" Caliban dropped his staff and feel to his knees. "I've... I've murdered children that you cared for, and you would still forgive me?"

"You are not evil, Caliban. Only misguided." Magneto held his hand out to him. Caliban looked up at Magneto's eyes and he saw a man who had seen more suffering than any person should ever have to see and felt more pain than any other, and still, he was willing to accept Caliban again. His own father could not forgive him for being what he was; he had no control over that.

"I cannot, Magneto," Caliban said, lowering his head. "I must atone for my sins..."

"You have suffered enough, Caliban. Your life has never been your own. I'd say that you were paying for your sins before you committed them."

"I cannot, Magneto... I cannot." Caliban stood up and ran out of the chamber, no longer wishing to fight- not Magneto, not Stryker, nobody.

Magneto remained in the chamber, considering Caliban. He then remembered that Essex had left the chamber and floated out and down the hall.

-------------------------------

The infirmary had been quarantined, and only Callisto and Warren were inside, with the legacy-infected mutants. Unfortunately, the patients had reached the height of their illness- the purple veins now covered their skin almost entirely and the black boils were swelling. Tabby was dropping small time bombs from her hands and the metal floor beneath Amara was beginning to bubble.

"What's... happening?" Callisto asked.

"RRGghh! AARRRGH!" Gambit screamed. The boils on his skin burst like small balloons, releasing clouds of dark purple spores that flew through the air in circular patterns. The boils on the other patients also popped and the resulting clouds were so thick that nothing beyond them could be seen, even faintly.

"Get down!" Warren yelled. He pulled Callisto to the ground and spread his wings to cover them.

"AAAAARGH!" Kurt screamed as his own boils burst and the purple cloud spread through the room. Storm tried to hold them off with gusts of wind, but they seemed to float past them without effort. Wanda's attempts to hex them seemed useless and the spores resisted Scott's optic blasts. Pyro managed to singe a few, but not enough to stop them; the damage appeared to be cosmetic.

After several minutes, Warren looked up. The cloud was gone. He looked at Callisto, inspecting her face and arms. "You're alright."

"So are you... what?" Out of the corner of her eye, Callisto saw something purple at the door- the spores were seeping through the cracks along the door and escaping outside. Callisto ran to the hall and found the spores rising up into the ventilation shaft.

"What's going on?!" Pietro asked, running by them.

"I have no idea..." Pietro ran outside and saw the spores exiting the outside vents, leaving the Institute entirely.

Rogue caught Kurt was he dropped; he was still breathing and appeared to be relieved after his outbursts. The purple veins were retracting slightly and the boils were shrinking into black piles. Everyone looked around, anticipating the spores, but they did nothing to them.

"I don't get it," Toad said. "Didn't she say they would infect us?"

"She did," Scott replied. "What the hell's going on?"

"It's simple, really," Dr. Essex explained. "Legacy was laced with nanotechnology, which is how all cases were synchronized so perfectly. The virus took nutrients from mutant hosts in order to grow, but that was only the first stage of the virus's life. It has now entered the second stage. At my command, the nanotechs inside the mutant bodies stimulated the virus and caused it to release this cloud of deadly spores. Inhaling them is lethal. Death comes in minutes."

"Then why aren't they dead yet?!" Stryker asked, outraged.

"Simple, Father Stryker," Dr. Essex said with a sadistic grin. "The virus attacks mutants because it needs mutant cells to grow to full strength... but the spores do not recognize mutants. They are designed to attack normal humans... and only humans." Stryker looked around him. Viper was choking and the Professor was on the ground, wheezing.

"The latest poll shows us that Father Stryker is... argh... ack..." Ed Kelly began to paw at his throat, gasping for air. Within moments, he began to convulse, rocking back and forth violently. His camera crew did the same, wheezing and struggling. Everyone tuning in at home witnessed Kelly's blood-coughing fit and his final breath before he fell against the news desk, blood leaking out of his lifeless mouth, nose and ears.

"Ergh... no..." Dr. Patronete, sitting in his office, took a sip of water, but it did nothing to help him. Patronete was no fool; he may not have known why, but he realized his fate was inevitable. Quickly, he wrote something on his notebook and just as he finished the last letter, he slumped back in his chair. Outside, students began to drop. Those still standing, all mutants, panicked.

Storm's insect-like servant cried as he entered the room where the Rasputins were staying. He closed the door behind him.

Guards all over the London base began dropping, twitching like animals. Gauntlet looked around, wondering what was going on. He was the only one in the medical ward not reacting to the strange purple cloud that had entered.

"He's... betrayed us..." Viper said, coughing up blood. "He... Essex... traitor... mutant..." Viper dropped from the platform, falling next to Mystique. Blood tears flowed from her eyes, mixing in a blood beneath her head with the blood dripping from her mouth and nose.

Stryker watched as the Professor lay lifeless. He looked at his own hands, then down at his body.

"Praise the Lord. He has spared me."

"Spared you? No, Stryker, he has not," Dr. Essex said to him. Dr. Essex climbed up into the platform. "I am alive because of the mutant hiding in my head, but I am a pure-blooded human. You, however, are not."

"What?! How dare you accuse me! I am His creation!"

"You are a mutant, Stryker. Your mutation was never properly activated; it's latent. Do you know what your gift would have been?"

"Humor me, scientist."

"Ironically, it is a gift you possess without mutant powers. You can influence the minds of others. Your power was never activated, though; you have all of the weaknesses of a mutant with none of the strengths. I pity you, pries-" Stryker punched Essex in his rage, then pushed him to the ground.

"HOW DARE YOU?! I AM NO ABOMINATION! I FOLLOW THE WORD OF THE LORD!" Dr. Essex said nothing else. He looked at the sphere floating in front of him. The platform beneath him collapsed, courtesy of Apocalypse, but Stryker was lowered gently to the floor beneath. "YOU WILL BURN FOR THIS, ESSEX! YOU WILL BURN FOR THIS TREASON!"

"I will burn," Dr. Essex replied, solemnly. He began to glow, generating a strange white aura around him, surrounding the room and engulfing it in the light. The large rectangular door was pulled open and Magneto hovered in, quickly shielding himself from the brightness.

"What... is this?" he asked.

"I don't know," Wanda said. Without thinking, she clung to Scott, who put his arms around her. Likewise, Danielle found herself hanging off Pyro, who was surprised at first, but put his arms around her as well.

The light faded. Dr. Essex slowly floated back to the ground gently, lying on the broken platform below. The central sphere trembled slightly and the machines connected to it all shut off. The cables connected to the sphere detached themselves and the main sphere began to float forward. Magneto raised his hand to stop it, but he was powerless. Storm launched bolts of lighting, but the stopped inches from the sphere's surface and bounced off. Scott's blasts, Wanda's hexes, Pyro's flames, nothing could damage the sphere. A white light appeared from the grooves along the surface; the light grew wider as the grooves split and the sphere opened.

What emerged as a large man dressed in a form-fitting black suit, covered with blue armor that vaguely resembled the motifs of Ancient Egypt. There were lines of blue light running along his body, not part of his outfit, but apparently shining through his clothes from the skin beneath. On his belt he had a white emblem- a scarab, devouring a sun. The only place where his skin wasn't covered was his head; his face was rugged and his jaw angular, his features were relatively handsome, though covered in blue markings that glowed like those running along the rest of his body. He had now hair and his eyes were a deep blue with bright yellow irises. The reborn En Sabah Nur was created from samples of various mutants but without a trace of his own original genetic structure, though his face vaguely resembled his old one, but there was one mutant that seemed to influence his face more than the others.

He stood before the assembled mutants for a moment. Something about this moment felt familiar to him, as if he had experienced it before in a previous life. He began to glow; his gray skin became white, his black clothes became gray, and with a wave of his hands, the mutants flew to the walls and ceilings like magnets. Only Stryker remained standing, trembling with fear.

"What you have unleashed, Father Stryker," Dr. Essex said, weakly, "Is a mutant with no equal. He intends to destroy humanity. The virus he forced me to create will do most of the world, but he will not stop there..."

"I fear for this world," Stryker lamented. "I fear for the people, and the terrible thing I've done..."

"We are both responsible, Father," Dr. Essex said. "There is nothing we can do but pray."

"Pray?" Apocalypse asked with a deep, commanding voice. With the genes of other mutants, his mastery of English was more complete, though he retained a slight Egyptian accent. "No, Father Stryker. Your god cannot help you."

Apocalypse raised his hand and Stryker was forced to the ground, on his knees.

"Kneel before me, Father Stryker. I am your god now."

Yowza... hey, what? How come only the villians died? Because there's one chapter left, folks. A lot can and will happen in that last chapter.

Now then... Paul McGregor aka Shifter is dead. Oops.

Remember how I said Mr. Sinister wouldn't appear? Well, he didn't. Dr. Essex is a different character; where the original canonical Nathaniel Essex was a mad scientist in Apocalypse's service, this version of Essex is an unwilling slave who doesn't like what Apocalypse is forcing him to do. That way, I could have Essex appear without turning him into a ridiculous villain.

As for the chapter title... The Twelve, in the comics, were a group of mutants (coincidentally comprised of X-Men members, among others) that had the power to revive Apocalypse. The basic idea here is the same, even if the execution is radically altered (specifically, the twelve gene samples were used to create a new body for Apocalypse).

I'd like to think that I made Caliban a little more interesting at the end. You tell me if I did a good job with him.

So what now? One chapter to go. Stay tuned, true believers for the final chapter: THE EGYPTIAN DUSK!

When you read that last line, imagine a deep, echoing voice. Maybe some kind of dramatic music. Fuck it, imagine Chris Rock reading it while the Munsters theme song plays in the background.


	12. The Egyptian Dusk

THIS IT, TRUE BELIEVERS!

Excelsior...

'nuff said... or something.

Make mine Marvel?

This, my friends, is the final chapter of The Legacy of Apocalypse. Though it has a similar title to Alternate Reality's final chapter ("The Egyptian Dawn"), I wouldn't say they're too similar... about as similar as the 11th chapter of LoA was to AR's 11th chapter (aka "everyone dies"), but the point here is to wrap things up. Thanks for sticking around to see the end of this one and for tolerating the weirdness and changes made to the Evolution universe. I know it turns some people off, but I'm glad there were people willing to continue reading regardless of how weird or poorly written this thing was. Oh, and excuse the grammar.

****

Chapter Twelve - The Egyptian Dusk

The roof of Hydra's London base began to crack as Apocalypse raised his hand upward. Shards of metal and scraps of concrete were ripped off, sent upwards into the sky. The walls of the central lab crumbled and fell and within the span of a minute, the base was leveled.

Magneto and his team were surrounded by the rubble of the base, and beyond that, faint city lights.

"Come with me," Apocalypse said, floating above Magneto. "We can be allies, Magneto." Magneto gave no reply; metal scraps from the rubble floated up and surrounded Apocalypse. "This is a mistake. If you won't join me, then at least stay out of my way." Apocalypse waved his hands and the metal was sent away to the sky. Apocalypse continued floating forward, but stopped. He looked behind him. "You."

"Me?" Rogue asked. Apocalypse now faced her. "What do you want with me?"

"You are strong... there is great potential. You will come with me."

"Like hell she will," Scott yelled. He stepped in front of her. Toad and Kurt stood at his sides. "You'll have to go through us first."

"If you insist." Scott released a power blast, but a burst of black energy from Apocalypse's hands absorbed it. Scott was thrown aside and Toad, caught in mid-leap by Apocalypse's telekinesis, was thrown with him. Kurt teleported onto Apocalypse's shoulders and grabbed his head, unsuccessfully trying to twist and break his neck.

"You leave her alone!" Kurt yelled. "If you lay a finger on her, I'll kill you, you monster!" Apocalypse pulled Kurt off with a single hand. He let him drop, but caught him with his mind, raising him off the ground, face to face with Apocalypse.

"Will you? And how do you plan to do that, Kurt Darkholme?"

"With our help," Wanda said behind him. "Scott, Pyro!" Scott hit Apocalypse's glowing back with an optic blast and Pyro sprayed his side with a full blast from his flamethrowers. Wanda raised her arms and created a blue aura around Apocalypse, clashing with his natural white aura.

"So be it." Kurt's head twisted sharply to the right and he fell on the ground with a sharp thud. Scott stopped firing to see his brother's lifeless body fall and without a second thought he ran to him.

"Scott, wait!" Wanda yelled. With Wanda distracted, Apocalypse's white energy won out over the blue hex field. Scott held up Kurt's limp head, gently stroking his cheek. Wanda rested a hand on his shoulder, not sure whether to let him spend a moment with his brother or to remind him that his killer was still behind them.

"AAH!" Pyro screamed as Apocalypse blasted him against an upturned steel beam. As Pyro stood back up, he heard a faint whistling sound behind him. He quickly took off his tank and hurled it at Apocalypse. It stopped inches from him and exploded, but the flames were contained within a small, invisible bubble. Apocalypse twittled his fingers and the tank collapsed into a compact sphere so dense that it lodged itself onto the floor when dropped.

"That's enough!" Storm yelled. Lightning hit the ground near Apocalypse and he turned back to her, raising an eyebrow. Without warning a second bolt struck him, thousands of bolts surged through his body, and he clenched his teeth to keep from crying out. Apocalypse's white aura disappeared and he drifted back to the ground on his knees, holding himself up with one arm. "I thought so, you're not so tough. Now, let's finish this."

"Stay back!" Apocalypse yelled. His other arm was raised and across the floor where the lab once stood, the unconscious, bleeding Mystique was raised. The wound on her chest was still dripping.

"No... you fucking bastard, you better not!" Scott yelled.

"Stay where you are, and she will live." Apocalypse's blue and yellow eyes stared right into Scott's red glasses and he jumped back for a moment, instantly seeing all the cruelty and seriousness in them. But how could he be sure that Apocalypse wouldn't kill her anyway? There was no way of knowing.

"Evan, now!" Storm yelled. Instantly, Evan launched a bone spike.

"GRRRAAAAAAARGH!" Apocalypse collapsed on the floor with a spike impaled on the back of his head, right where the neckline ended and the skull began, and as he attempted to stand back up, he closed his fist tightly and a spurt of blood exited Mystique's wound. She dropped and Scott, along with his remaining brother Toad, ran to her. As they did, Apocalypse forced the spike to eject and stood up weakly. Awed, the others froze.

Scott and Todd set their mother down gently on the floor. Apocalypse had forced several arteries to explode, leaving Mystique with heavy internal bleeding. Her yellow eyes opened slowly, looking up at her two sons and her only daughter, as Rogue joined them.

"Go," she said to them weakly. "It's over... go, and stay as far from him as you can."

"Mom..." Scott whispered.

"You've all made me so proud," she whispered back. "You've grown up. You're not kids anymore. You've shown you have what it takes to make it in this world... a mother couldn't ask for better children."

"We couldn't ask for a better mom," Rogue cried, choking, tears running down her face.

"Scott... Todd... Marie... I love you all..." Mystique looked up. Her eyes were fading. She looked at each of them, concerned, and finally asked, "...Where is Kurt?" Her head went limp, and she said nothing else. Scott looked behind him at Kurt.

"...He's with you, mom," he whispered. He looked at Rogue and Todd and put his arms around them, comforting his younger siblings. He would take care of them, now that their mother was gone.

"You... will... pay... dearly..." Apocalypse said between breaths. The bleeding had stopped. Once again, he began to glow a ghastly white and float several feet off the ground. With Mystique's death distracting the others, Apocalypse had regained enough energy and with the snap of his fingers, the ground beneath Evan rumbled and collapsed. Colossus rushed to grab him, but a rock pillar pushed up against him and knocked him several feet back.

"No you will not!" Storm yelled, summoning another bolt of lightning, but this time, Apocalypse was prepared. He raised his hand and absorbed the lighting bolt, electricity again flowing through his body, energizing him. The ground swallowed Evan and pressed against him. Only his hand emerged from the ground as the rock around him crushed him. "EVAN!"

"Have you learned your lesson yet?" Impatient, Apocalypse waved his hand and a telekinetic wave pushed the remaining mutants away. Only Freddy remained standing, but Apocalypse wasn't particularly concerned with him. Magneto stood back up and raised both hands, a look of sheer determination on his face. Apocalypse could feel a tingle around him and though his white aura remained, his blue markings faded briefly.

"I am not as weak as the others," Magneto said. "You will not win so easily."

"No," Apocalypse admitted. "This battle has already been decided. We will call it a draw." Raising his hand again, Rogue was pulled away from her brothers. Toad jumped up and grabbed her, but he couldn't pull her back down. He was pushed off by Apocalypse's whim and caught by his older brother. Rogue came to Apocalypse, and holding her arm, he raised his other hand and his aura grew stronger.

"SCOTT! TODD! HELP ME!"

"We're coming!" Scott yelled. He tore off his glasses and let his optic blast fly at full strength.

"Darkholme, turn it down," Pyro told him.

"Fuck off!"

"No, really mate, turn it down. It's over."

"IT'S NOT FUCKING OVER!"

"IT IS!" Scott closed his eyes and put his glasses back on. In his blind rage, he hadn't noticed that Apocalypse was gone. "He went poof right before you took your shades off... Darkholme, listen... about your family..."

"Save it, Pyro. I don't want sympathy. I want that bastard's head."

"He'll get what's coming to him," Wanda said, putting a hand on his shoulder. "But right now, we need to worry about everyone here."

"Right, right." Scott shook his head. "Toad... Todd, get Kurt. I'll take mom."

"Right, bro." Behind them, Storm looked down at her nephew's hand. Colossus had already begun to push his hands into the rock in an attempt to dig him out.

"Be careful!" Storm shouted at him.

"I am sorry, but it is hard to be careful with rock."

"Look, Piotr, I..." Storm looked down. Quickly, she regained her composure. "I want to make sure he's not further damaged. Just try to be more careful with him. He's my only nephew, after all."

"And only family?"

"Yes. He was all I had left." Freddy helped Jubilee to her feet. She was still dazed, though her hypnosis, as well as that of Kurt's, had worn off before Apocalypse had emerged. Danielle rubbed Pyro's head, and though it wasn't much, it was enough to get a smile out of him. Todd carried Kurt's body, standing with Scott, carrying Mystique. Magneto and Wanda observed the damage. Father Stryker, cowering in a corner, looked at Magneto, afraid that Apocalypse's teleportation had not spared him from a terrible fate. Dr. Essex, weak, but alive, walked to Magneto.

"I'm sorry, Magnus," Dr. Essex told him. His breathing was labored. "

"I would say that you have paid your debt," Magneto said, noting his weakness. "You will make up for this."

"How could I possibly began to undo everything I did for Apocalypse?"

"You helped him at every step of his scheme. You helped create Apocalypse's new body. Is there no way to destroy it?"

"I wanted to add a failsafe to his body," Dr. Essex admitted. "Weaken the production of an enzyme he would need to live, forcing him to take vitamins to survive. It would just be a matter of cutting off his supply... but he knew everything I knew. He wouldn't allow it. If there is some flaw in his structure, I couldn't be aware of it. He has the power of twelve mutants, with those abilities working together, he is unstoppable."

"He has been stopped before."

"Yes... the Eye of Ages was sealed on him... he plans to use it again, once Forge has built his relay towers for him. Cain bought us some time by destroying one of his pyramids. It will take roughly a year for Forge to build them. That should give you enough time to form some sort of counter-attack. The Eye of Ages is powered by the Sphinx, in Egypt. He will be weak once he powers it. That's your window, Magneto."

"Yes... we will have to mobilize against that Sphinx." The spheres landed roughly near the lab. "You will ride with me, Dr. Essex. You have much to tell me."

"I am not afraid of you," Father Stryker said, standing up. Magneto and Wanda both turned their heads, paying him no great regard, but looking at him nonetheless. "If I did not stop the growth of Lucifer's creatures, someone else will."

"Father Stryker, I would kill you myself," Magneto said, "But it would benefit someone if you remained alive. Take him with you, Wanda. We will drop him off in Ireland."

"You're letting him go?" Wanda asked incredulously.

"I am letting him find his fate," Magneto said coyly. "Or rather, I will let his fate find him. That's why we will leave him in a place where it will know to look."

"I understand," Wanda said with a slight smirk.

-------------------------------

The moment Magneto stepped out of his sphere at the Xavier Institute, Pietro ran to him, standing at attention. "Welcome back, Magneto."

"The mission was a failure, Pietro," Magneto said to him, helping Dr. Essex out of the pod.

"Regardless, we have a situation." Dr. Essex was given to Colossus to carry and Magneto followed Pietro into the hall, leading him to a special room where the legacy patients were placed. Amara, Jamie and two other children were awake and the physical effects of legacy were beginning to wear off. They were weak, but they would recover. Gambit and Tabby were only barely recognizable. Their skin was covered with metallic hives; the purple veins had not faded. Once Magneto had seen them, Pietro covered them with a sheet.

"They were the worst cases," Pietro said. "They were both legacy addicts for a while before this. The others coughed up this little metal spheres." Pietro held one up, no bigger than a quarter, shiny and blue and dotted with black circuit lines.

"The nanotechs, useless," Magneto said, holding up the sphere with his magnetic abilities. "They must have powered out. These two must have had millions of them in their system, more than their bodies could handle. But that was the price of their habit. Inform Ororo of their condition. I'll see to it they get a proper burial."

"Hank!" Freddy called, entering the infirmary. Beast was there, weak but stable, hooked up to a nearby machine, with Jean sitting next to him. "How is he?"

"He'll live, but he won't recover so easily. It'll take time. Logan hit a few arteries and some of his organs. How did everything go?"

"Not so well," Freddy said, sitting down on an empty bed. "You could say it was a downright failure. We lost Mystique and Kurt. This new mutant took Rogue with him. Evan isn't even identifiable anymore."

"Oh..." Jean said. "I'm glad at least you're safe."

"I'm glad I sent you away. I don't know if that mutant would have gone after you."

"I warned them," Storm said once Pietro had reported to her. She sat in the foyer with Colossus. "They should have stuck to selling the stuff and not becoming their own customers. They got what they deserved."

"Suit yourself," Pietro said, not willing to argue about morality. "I have other things to take care of." Pietro left the three of them alone. Storm sighed and slouched.

"Do you feel bad about this?" Colossus asked.

"I was used, so was every other underworld boss around the world. If I didn't supply it to them, someone else would have. We never needed them anyway. We were just going to take their place. Apocalypse did us all a favor."

"What of my family?" Colossus asked. "Are they safe?"

"My guess is that they went with all the other humans."

"And you do not care that my family may be dead?! I must see them. I am going back. There may still be time!"

"Fine, go. You're wasting your time." Colossus looked down at Storm with cold eyes. Colossus changed into his metal form and left the Institute.

"Does he think that matters?" Storm muttered to herself. His family was dead. Why should he bother checking their corpses? Storm realized that even she didn't think he was wrong to at least see them. She stepped outside the Institute. "Piotr, wait." Colossus stopped and looked back at her, the same coldness remaining in his eyes. "I'm going with you."

"I thought family was unimportant to you."

"When you have nothing left, that's when you realize you had anything... what I mean is... look, I'll go with you to check on your family. I'll make sure they get a proper sendoff."

"Thank you, Ms. Monroe. That is kind of you."

"Neither of us has anything left, Piotr. As they say, birds of a feather stick together." Colossus smiled at her. Storm briefly returned a smile, still not used to being openly emotional. "Come on, we've wasted enough time with Magneto."

"What about Caliban?" Warren asked. Magneto stood in the planning room with Mastermind, Warren, Callisto, Pietro, Wanda and Dr. Essex. Callisto showed equal concern over the whereabouts of Caliban.

"He must deal with his own problems," Magneto said. "I let him go."

"You did WHAT?!"

"He was being led, Callisto. He will have to confront his own father and determine what he must do with his life. There are more important things. Dr. Essex knows how we can defeat Apocalypse, but it will be some time before we can act. Dr. Essex is to remain in here."

"I can't, Magnus," Dr. Essex said. "I am safe from the legacy virus, but Apocalypse damaged me too deeply. I don't have very long to live. Give me some time to write down everything I know, you'll have a year to look over it. I won't last that long."

"I am aware of that, Dr. Essex. I won't say that your premature death isn't undeserved, but your help will be welcomed. Warren, Callisto, Jason, you are welcome to remain here."

"Thank you, but we'll be going to New York," Warren said.

"We're going to set up a shelter for mutants..." Callisto stopped for a moment. "Well, a shelter for whoever is left."

"If that is your wish. I assume the Darkholmes will stay here. I'm releasing Arkady back into your custody, Callisto. Be very careful."

-------------------------------

St. Laurence's Cathedral in Donegal, Ireland was empty that night, save for one man. Father Stryker sat at the altar, kneeling before the cross with his head hung low. The cathedral's candles were burning out, dimming the light around him.

"Where did I go wrong?" Stryker asked. "I did what I thought you wanted me to do, but I have failed you, Lord. Now they will inherit the Earth... and I am one of them. I do not deserve to kneel before you... forgive me, father, I cannot allow myself to remain here..."

"This is not the way," Caliban said from the entrance of the cathedral. "Father, don't you see? The world is ours now. This was how it would have been."

"How it would have been?!" Stryker screamed at him. "We are monsters! No, what am I saying? Essex lied to me. You are a monster, I am a man! Even if I am the last man on Earth, I will never allow you to take it! You will not corrupt this world, you will not!"

"Father, please... God does not hate us for what we are. We are his creations as well."

"YOU are not his creation! You are... you are... I don't know what you are," Stryker said fearfully. "You are my son, Caliban."

"And for better or worse, you are my father. This is a new world we will share, father. There is no such thing as mutants anymore. That was a name they used to separate normal humans from those born different. Now, all are born different. What are mutants then? They were only mutants compared to those born before them. Now we are all humans."

"Yes, I am still human, aren't I?" Stryker removed his glasses, allowing his son to see his face more clearly. "Could... could it be that this was what God intended?"

"What you did goes against his intentions, father," Caliban told him. "But we would have inherited the Earth one day, even if you and I were no longer alive to see that day. There is nothing left to fear, father." Caliban put his hand on his father's shoulder. "We will face this new world together."

"No, my son, we will not," Stryker said to him. "I have lived my entire life in fear. What I did to you as a child was out of fear. What I can never forgive myself for is your birth. I wasn't trying to dispose of you. I wanted to spare you the humiliation of being... a mutant."

"Father, you do not have to lie to me."

"No, Caliban, I-"

"Father, I know what you did. I forgive you."

"...You... what?"

"I forgive you for what you did. In your place, I might have done the same. For whatever reason, God chose to spare me. I thought that my purpose was to serve you, but perhaps I haven't found my true purpose yet."

"I brought you into a world you did not fit into," Stryker told his son, embracing him suddenly. "I helped make it more difficult for you, but... I have made things right now, my son."

"What do you mean?"

"We are humans now. You are not part of a world that looks down on you, my son. Now they can see you for your worth. I only wish that I had understood sooner what a son I had."

"You are not ashamed of me?"

"No, Caliban. I am proud of you, not for your actions, but for your thoughts. Despite all that I made you do, you are not an evil person. You will yet do good in this world." Stryker turned away from his son and looked at the cross. "This is my gift to you, son... at the cost of millions of lives. I leave this world to you, Caliban."

"I do not understand..." Caliban saw Stryker's hand reach into his pockets. "Father, what are you doing?"

"I must atone for my crimes. I want to see if the higher court will prove me right. I had saved this, in case of capture." Stryker took a small pill from his pocket, containing a white powder. "This world is my legacy to you, my dear son. Don't make the same mistakes I did. Goodbye, Caliban."

"Father, wait-" Before Caliban could stop him, Stryker took the pill and broke it in his mouth. He looked at his son one last time with a half-smile, the rest of his face showing the regret Stryker felt in his last moments. He fell to the floor of the cathedral with a loud, resonating thud. "...Father." Caliban cradle Stryker's body in his arms, observing the shadows cast on him by the dim candles of the cathedral.

"I will find my purpose father."

-------------------------------

"Are you sure about this?" Pietro asked his father. Magneto stood with Wanda and Pietro in a room they rarely entered; Magneto's office. It was a large, round dome, larger than most of the Institute's classrooms, with circular platform on one end of the room, accessible by a flight of metal steps, themselves operated solely my Magneto's power, and surrounding the lower level of the room, rows of books with near-microscopic metal pins attached to each page, allowing for easy access. The three stood on this platform itself, which allowed them to see out the large windows lining the sloping top of the dome. There was a chair next to a metal desk divided into two half; on one half was a computer and a specialized console that allowed full access to all of the Xavier Institute's files and systems; the other half was used as free space for Magneto to write, or to lay out blueprints if needed. A hologram projector sat on the far end, and at that moment, a very important item sat on the desk, one neither of Magneto's children had ever seen, but in another time, it was quite famous. Pietro and Wanda wore their standard uniforms, but Magneto wore a new outfit- much the same as the one he usually wore, only the armor he wore was not silver, but red.

"I am, Pietro," Magneto said, looking out the window at the sun setting over a lifeless Bayville. "We must be prepared for anything. I hope that we do not have to do this. We are no match for Apocalypse, and soon we may not be able to hide from him anywhere on this planet."

"He didn't seem too tough to me," Wanda said. "Ororo's lightning struck him down pretty easily, and in that time, if he hadn't taken Mystique hostage, we all could have defeated him. You almost had him for a moment."

"Apocalypse is not yet at full power, Wanda. The one we faced was formidable, but not invincible. Dr. Essex claims that Apocalypse is not yet used to his new abilities. In time, he will master his powers, perhaps even enhance them, and even I may not be any match for him."

"I understand, dad, but isn't this a little drastic?"

"It is drastic, because what we will have to resort to now will be drastic actions. We have roughly a year to prevent his global field from activating, and in that time, he will make sure that nobody stands in his way. He is no fool, he likely already knows that we will attack him when he activates that field. This is a backup, in the event that we fail. The entire world will be in his hands. We will need a place to retreat."

"Right..." Wanda sighed. "How are you going to pull this off?"

"It will not be easy." Magneto took the hologram projector from the table and showed them the schematics for the Xavier Institute. "Over the next few weeks, I will reinforce the Institute with new metal. Its size will have to increase nearly eleven-fold." The Institute schematics grew several times, appearing as a towering skyscraper. "Once that has been established, it will be remolded." The skyscraper became a large oval shape, though the schematics showed that most of the rooms were intact. "We will have to grow our own food inside. I will take it into orbit myself. I hope that I can count on both of you to maintain systems as we have here."

"I was hoping to take a more active role," Pietro admitted. "I could teach someone to run the systems like I did, and that'd free up time for me to train some more."

"That's showing initiative, Pietro. For the sake of secrecy as well as idealistic conflict, it will no longer be called the Xavier Institute. Charles's dream is dying with the human population. The codename 'Avalon' will do for now, and should we succeed in overthrowing Apocalypse and restoring the human race, then this will once again be the Xavier Institute. We can show no weakness, we can no longer afford it. We are no longer training mutants to use their powers for good, we are trying them to use their powers just to survive. Make no mistake, we face a full war ahead of us." Magneto called the second item on his desk to him. He guided it with both hands and slipped it onto his head; it was a helmet, red like the armor he wore, lined with the same violet he bore on his cape, an opening cut in Roman fashion, allowing his face to be seen. "The X-Men have retired. We are now a brotherhood of mutants, and our only goal, the only thing left for us on this miserable planet, is the defeat of Apocalypse."

-------------------------------

Scott sat on the roof of the Xavier Institute, joined by Todd, his youngest brother, after the sun had dipped under the horizon, leaving a faint red hue across the darkening sky. There was silence between the two. The last two days had been very hard for both of them.

"Heh, makes it hard, don't you think?"

"Makes what hard?" Scott asked.

"This Avalon thing Wanda told us about. It sounds like a good idea, but... I dunno, I wouldn't want to go up there without Marie."

"Which is why I'm not going."

"Just like that?"

"I'm not letting my sister get used by some fucking megalomaniac with an ego problem. Besides, we still owe him twice over."

"You got a point. Two brothers out to kick some ass. All hell can't stop us now."

"Hey, there you are," Pyro said, appearing behind them. "I've been looking all over for you."

"We've just been talking," Scott said. "I can't speak for Toad, but I'm not going up there."

"That makes two of us, then," Pyro said, sitting down next to them. "I'm bloody tired of watching after a bunch of kids all day. There's not gonna be much action up there, all the fun's going to be down here." Pyro began to play with his lighter out of habit. "Since you still want to get back at ol' grayface, Darkholme, I figure you might need a mate to watch your back."

"But then you'll need somebody to watch your back," Danielle said from the door. "And really, do you trust Scott to pay back a favor?"

"Hey, I'm not that big a jerk," Scott retorted. "Pyro is a handful. I guess it wouldn't hurt to have somebody else to toss him to whenever I'm tired of babysitting him."

"Sounds like you're all planning too far in advance," Wanda noted as she appeared on the roof. "Avalon won't go up for another three months, at the very least."

"Well I've already made up my mind," Scott told her, standing up and facing her. He seemed especially nervous when he told Wanda this. "I'm going to find my sister." Wanda looked back at him and noticed how tense he was. He was dead serious; he was going to stay on Earth and find Apocalypse and Rogue, whether Wanda liked it or not. Toad watched the two carefully.

"You can relax, Scott," Wanda said with a smile. "I'm not going up either."

"What?" Scott was surprised. "But... your dad and brother are going... why aren't you?"

"Officially, I'm staying here to keep a close eye on mutant activity," Wanda explained, putting her arms around his neck. "Unofficially... well, we'll just say I have my reasons." Any romance that might have occurred at that moment was destroyed by the hooting provided by Pyro and Toad. Danielle, of course, only rolled her eyes.

"Oh, shut up," Wanda said, half-giggling.

"So the five of us are staying down here and hunting Apocalypse," Toad said. "It's official, we're all crazy and we don't care."

"You can imagine my father wasn't too thrilled when I told him," Wanda explained, "But he respects my decision. I'll keep in touch with him, but... at some point, you gotta let go."

"We need a name," Pyro insisted. "Something cool, something tough... The Rippers."

"Lame," Danielle yelled.

"X-Factor! X-Force. X-Squad? X-Team! Excalibur?" Toad blew him a raspberry. "Oh! The Avengers! The Defenders? Mutant Squad! The New Mutants? The New Warriors?"

"I think," Wanda interrupted out of mercy, and noting her father's decision, "X-Men sounds just fine."

"The New X-Men! The Uncanny X-Men. X-Treme X-Men? X-Citing X-Men! X-Ceptional X-Men! Oh... X-Men _UNLIMITED_! X-Men United... uh... Ultimate X-Men!"

"JUST X-MEN!" Scott yelled. Magneto's X-Men were gone; now, Wanda's X-Men: Scott Darkholme, Todd Wyngarde, Johnny Allerdyce and Danielle Moonstar- would carry the torch into this new world.

-------------------------------

"Magnus, Mr. Wyngarde, hello," Dr. Essex said in the room he had been given. There was only a bed and a small desk, which he sat at, writing notes on paper with a black pen. He had been given new clothes, a simple white suit, but he was forced to wear a metal collar and bracelets. "I was just writing down what I knew... what's wrong?"

"This," Magneto said. Mastermind took a single photograph from his coat and handed it to him. "This was taken by the German government, or at least, what's left of them. According to reports from Warren's contacts, this is also happening in Brazil."

"No, this can't be happening," Dr. Essex whispered in fear. On the photograph was a massive silver tower with blue markings on a language unknown to either Magneto or Mastermind.

"It appears to be ready," Mastermind added and took a slip of paper from his coat. "According to the report, only two men were seen... a brown-skinned man whose arm became a metal device and a glowing white man who could fly. The report says that the glowing man built the tower out of spare metals he had brought with him, and as soon as it was complete, they disappeared."

"This is impossible, this wasn't supposed to happen!"

"QUIET!" Magneto yelled. Dr. Essex was pulled off the ground by the metal collar. "You know what to do."

"All too well," Mastermind replied. He reached up and pressed his hand firmly against Dr. Essex's face and closed his eyes. Moments later, he released him, as did Magneto. "He was a pawn, just like we were. Apocalypse lied through him, probably because he knew Dr. Essex would come to us afterwards. He didn't have any access to the pyramids and building the towers wasn't his concern; it was only the estimate given to the Weapon X man and Forge."

"This doesn't explain how Apocalypse could have built two towers so quickly."

"I assume he has direct mental influence over Forge," Mastermind mused, "If Forge is willingly aiding him, then of course, he could find ways to build them with minimal labor and delay."

"Then we can't waste time. I am doubling my efforts on Avalon. We will have to go up as soon as possible. Jason, have you made your decision yet?"

"I don't know, Erik... both of my children are staying here, but they're going separate ways. This is very hard for me. I know that Jean will be in good hands with Freddy, though she's strong enough on her own, and Todd will have friends to watch over him... but I can't help but feel that if I went with you, I would be abandoning them again."

"You will stay in contact with them, Jason, I can assure you that much. People of your intelligence are hard to come by. Avalon could use your help."

"Very well," Mastermind conceded. "I will go with you."

"Your presence will be much needed, Jason. Call Callisto, Warren and Ororo and give me their answers." Magneto left the room. Mastermind turned to Dr. Essex, who rubbed his head.

"My apologies, but we have to do what we have to do."

-------------------------------

The Sphinx in Egypt was lit only by the pale light that emanated from Apocalypse's body. He raised his hands and the Sphinx rose out of the ground on top of a colossal pyramid that had been buried in the sand. He levitated to the top, entering through the stone door of the Sphinx.

Inside, moving past hieroglyph-covered walls and stone guardians to a main chamber with a circular pattern on the floor and four pillars surrounding it. Floating inches above the circle printed on the floor was a diamond-shaped device with the same blue writing that appeared on the pyramid itself. Apocalypse raised his hands and the device opened, revealing a special base upon which was mounted a round black box. Panels at the top of the box opened, revealing a glowing green interior with an indentation roughly the size and shape of a human.

"At last," Apocalypse whispered to himself.

"So this is the fabled Eye of Ages," Forge asked, appearing next to it. He had been inside the pyramid, inspecting its designs. Forge had changed into a gray uniform that left only his head and left forearm exposed. His eyes were a dull yellow around his brown pupils, a sign of his corruption at the hands of Apocalypse. He no longer needed to be kept under hypnosis by Mesmero; they had left Mesmero in London to fend for himself. "Master, are you strong enough to power it?"

"I hope so," Apocalypse said. "This machine takes a tremendous amount of energy to power it. With my enhancements, it should be no problem. Nonetheless, be prepared. I may need your help."

"I will, master." Apocalypse climbed into the indentation and his white aura blended with the green light; soon, Apocalypse himself was covered with a green glow. Lights projected from the Eye of Ages onto a holographic image of the Earth hovering above them, reaching onto seven points across the Earth.

"And the evolution begins," Forge whispered.

The tower in the German mountains began to glow a bright blue and generated a spiral of energy that launched upwards; to any observer, it appeared that the tower itself was growing to enormous proportions. In the upper atmosphere, the energy collected into a great sphere, so bright that it lit the ground beneath it like a miniature sun.

Freddy Dukes and Jean Grey, sitting on the porch of a house in upstate New York once belonging to the Wyngarde family, looked up at the bright energy collecting above them. They held hands and watched helplessly.

Storm and Colossus, and a little blonde girl stood over four graves; Colossus's mother, father, and brother were buried next to Evan Daniels. Colossus's sister hugged his leg and he placed a hand on her shoulder. They noticed that the day was getting brighter. Storm looked up and saw blue energy creeping across the sky like glowing clouds.

Juggernaut set his helmet aside when he stopped by a river in South America to get some water, noticed that the reflection of the sky was brighter than it had been moments before. Looking up, realized that his actions in Mexico had been entirely in vain. Frustrated, he punched a tree and knocked it into the water.

Callisto stared at the window of Worthington Towers in horror. Warren, making a phone call, didn't seem to notice, until Berzerker, Scaleface, Torpid and Jubilee ran to the window with Callisto. Arkady, who had been dusting a counter, soon joined them. Realizing something was up, Warren went to the window and saw the glowing blue sky.

Only a few miles from Worthington Towers, in a small apartment, Lance, Kate and Robert also saw that the sky was changing. Frightened, Kate clung to Lance.

In the forests of Northern England, Logan tracked a wounded Sabretooth, following a trail of blood left in the snow. At last, he found his prey and extended both sets of claws, but he stopped when he noticed the sky changing.

Caliban stood over a waterfall, just a few miles outside of Donegal, carrying a small plastic container with the ashes of his father, having nothing else to put them in. He opened the lid and poured the ashes out over the waterfall. Once they had joined the water, he set the container down, and kneeling, made the sign of the cross. When he stood back up, he noticed the sky had turned bright. As he watched in confusion and awe, the sky darkened.

Sitting in the back yard of the Brotherhood of Bayville Boarding House, Toad and Danielle noticed the darkened sky. He called the others out, and moments later, Scott, Wanda and Pyro ran out to see. The black sky looked unnatural; there were no stars, and they sky itself was not a dark blue as the normal night sky, but a dull, dark grey, almost black color.

Avalon, as the floating base was called, continued its ascension above the Earth. Magneto and Pietro stood in the office, looking out the window. They saw the atmosphere covered in a blue field that soon became dark. Nothing below the dark sky could be seen; for all purposes, the Earth had become a massive black sphere. Magneto was elated that he had taken Avalon up in time; there was still hope for Xavier's dream.

In the hangar of Avalon, Mastermind and Beast, in a wheelchair and hooked to a machine attached to it, took count of a crowd of people, wrapped in blankets and carrying only small suitcases. There were roughly four hundred of them, as many humans not killed by the legacy spores as Magneto could find before Apocalypse's field was activated.

But still, the world belonged to Apocalypse. Magneto had every intention of waging war on him, even if he had to do so alone.

And Marie Darkholme, or Rogue as her old friends called her, sat on a golden chair in a white hall, adorned with red, blue and gold images on the wall. Marie wore an immaculate white gown, simple and practical for desert conditions, covering her but allowing room for her skin to breath, though a golden belt and collar stretched the front tightly enough that the proportions of her chest were no mystery to observers. She wore gold bracelets and anklets and her feet were bare, and on top of her head she wore a gold circlet with small golden rods hanging from all sides. Black makeup was streaked across her eyes, contrasting with her white skin, but her lips were marked with a dull red color. Despite all the changes to Rogue's appearance, the most obvious, to anyone who knew her, was the faint yellow in her eyes, but it only brought out the natural green, and strangely, they resembled her mother's eyes. Her eyes lit up when she saw someone at last enter the white hall.

Apocalypse was brought in, leaning against Forge, weak and no longer glowing.

"Welcome back, my lord," Rogue said, standing from her throne. "You are weak... are you alright?" she asked with genuine worry in her voice.

"I will be soon enough." Forge helped Apocalypse sit on his own golden throne, next to Rogue. She took a large feathered fan and created a gentle breeze for him. "Thank you... yes, I need rest, that is all."

"The Eye of Ages will be powered indefinitely now," Forge explained proudly. "My towers provide the mutation field with infinite power."

"They are still vulnerable," Apocalypse feared. "I will have to find a way to protect them. We have many enemies, and as my hand reaches across the globe, we will only gain more. Now, there are only three of us. In time, I will have an army at my disposal."

"They will be no match for Apocalypse," Rogue said proudly. She leaned towards Apocalypse, brushing his cheek with her exposed hand and gently kissing his tired lips. Somehow, Apocalypse was immune to Rogue's vampiric powers, but he was too tired to truly return the kiss. "You need rest, my lord."

"Yes. Today, I rest." Apocalypse's white aura was slowly returning to him. Respectfully, Forge took a step back and Rogue returned to her seat. The lines along Apocalypse's body began to glow again and his breathing was comfortable once more. "The day is mine. As long as I am in power the sun will not rise again."

And so, the story ends... not much of an ending, huh? Well, there's hope.

I'm considering writing a direct sequel to this one (unlike the way this story was an indirect sequel to the first), taking place a few years after this one. Scott, Wanda, Pyro, Toad and Danielle will play major roles. Magneto and Storm will be there, too. Caliban will return, Forge and Gauntlet will be given larger roles, and I promise there will be no shitty children of current pairings or any of that (it will not take place that far into the future). Let me know what you guys think; I'd like some input and/or suggestions before I begin.


	13. Bonus: Character List contains spoilers

Now that the story is finished, here's a full list of the characters included, as well as their fates.

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The X-Men

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Name: Erik Magnus Lehnsherr (Magneto)

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Affiliation: The X-Men

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Powers: Capable of manipulating magnetic fields and in effect, control metal itself

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Known Relatives: Quicksilver, Scarlet Witch (children)

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History: Magnus was a close friend of Professor Charles Xavier, and together they did research on genetics and the emergence of mutants. They hadn't even begun to formulate their theories on human reaction when a time-traveler (later revealed to be Shifter) appeared and killed Xavier. In memory of his friend, Magneto took his research and formed the X-Men. While his daughter Wanda became the field leader, his son Pietro took a less active role and took care of behind-the-scenes deals. Magneto is a strict man and could be cold, impatient and arrogant, but he wasn't evil, and acted in the best interests of others.

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Fate: Magneto survived the events of the story and now lives above orbit on Avalon.

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Name: Wanda Lehnsherr (Scarlet Witch)

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Affiliation: The X-Men

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Powers: Capable of affecting probability fields and cause unlikely phenomena to occur

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Known Relatives: Magneto (father), Quicksilver (brother)

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History: Wanda was a calm, mature girl who followed in the footsteps of her father, Magneto, and became his second-in-command in the X-Men. Wanda followed orders for the most part and was annoyed by irrational people, but she had a thing for bad boys, namely her boyfriend Scott Darkholme.

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Fate: Wanda survived the events of the story, but remains on Earth, leading the new X-Men.

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Name: Pietro Lehnsherr (Quicksilver)

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Affiliation: X-Men

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Powers: Capable of moving and thinking at high speed

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Known Relatives: Magneto (father), Scarlet Witch (sister)

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History: Pietro has always been impatient and immature, and so he prefers to stay off the main team and work with his father on administrative duties, where he doesn't have to take orders from his sister.

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Fate: Pietro survived the events of the story and went aboard Avalon with his father.

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Name: Hank McCoy (Beast)

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Affiliation: X-Men

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Powers: Enhanced strength, agility and dexterity

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Known Relatives: None

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History: Beast is an anthropologist and one of Magneto's original students. He has stayed on the team as a senior instructor for the younger classes. Beast is an intelligent man, but he tends to daydream.

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Fate: Beast survived the events of the story, though his injuries were severe and he is forced to remain in a wheelchair hook up to life support systems. He remains on Avalon.

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Name: Jean Grey (Converse)

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Affiliation: The X-Men

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Powers: Capable of telekinesis, as well as mild (and uncontrolled) telepathy

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Known Relatives: Mastermind (foster father), Toad (foster brother)

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History: Jean Grey was born to the Greys, but they died when she was young, and she was adopted by Mastermind. Tired of his alcoholism, she ran away from home and lived with a friend. Years after Mastermind died, Jean was approached by Magneto, who offered her a place on the X-Men, and she agreed. Jean has always had a bad attitude, which made her relationship with Freddy Dukes seem even stranger.

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Fate: Jean survived the events of the story, but remained on Earth with Freddy.

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Name: Freddy Dukes (Stalwart)

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Affiliation: The X-Men

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Powers: Super-strength as well as durable skin and fat-like cells

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Known Relatives: None

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History: Freddy Dukes never looked very normal, but with reality altered and mutants becoming dominant, it didn't matter. Freddy is a self-confident, mature and insightful man, which goes against his brutish appearance. He's romantically involved with Jean Grey and usually has to bring her back to reality when her temper gets the best of her.

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Fate: Freddy survived the events of the story, but will remain on Earth with Jean.

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Name: St. John "Johnny" Allerdyce (Pyro)

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Affiliation: X-Men

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Powers: Capable of controlling fire, but not producing it

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Known Relatives: None

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History: Pyro is the son of a writer, who was friends with Magneto, and through those connections Pyro joined the X-Men and after graduation, he stayed on as an instructor. Pyro is more interested in having fun, so his classes are mainly hands-on, and he tends to get in trouble for his lack of responsibility. He is best friends with Scott Darkholme and though not openly romantic, he is involved with Danielle Moonstar.

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Fate: Pyro survived the events of the story and will remain on Earth with Wanda's new X-Men.

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The Darkholme Brotherhood

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Name: Raven Darkholme (Mystique)

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Affiliation: The Darkholme Brotherhood

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Powers: Capable of changing her form to resemble any other person or animal

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Known Relatives: Nightcrawler, Rogue (children) Scott, Toad (adoptive children)

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History: Though little is known of Mystique's early life, she is clearly not an evil person during the Age of Apocalypse. She is still greatly independent, but she is devoted to her family. Her son Kurt and daughter Marie were never taken from her, and she adopted two more outcast children. She has ties to Magneto and the X-Men, but is not very eager to put her family in danger.

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Fate: Many of Mystique's major arteries burst under Apocalypse's power, killing her.

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Name: Scott Darkholme (no codename)

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Affiliation: The Darkholme Brotherhood

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Powers: Capable of firing force-blasts from his eyes

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Known Relatives: Mystique (adoptive mother), Nightcrawler, Rogue, Toad (adoptive siblings), Havok (brother)

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History: Scott Summers was the sole survivor of a plane accident, which his younger brother Alex was partially responsible for. Alex was killed, but Scott was adopted by Mystique. Scott still feels angry towards his brother, but also wishes that he was still alive. Scott gets along well with his new family, but he is very independent and difficult to control. He is romantically linked to Magneto's daughter, Wanda.

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Fate: Scott survived the events of the story; seeking to avenge his family, he will remain on Earth with Wanda and the X-Men.

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Name: Marie Darkholme (Rogue)

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Affiliation: The Darkholme Brotherhood

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Powers: Capable of absorbing the powers and memories of others through skin contact

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Known Relatives: Mystique (mother), Kurt (brother) Scott, Toad (adoptive brothers)

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History: Due to the distortion of time and reality, Marie was born to Mystique, rather than adopted. She kept many of her memories because she rarely absorbed the memories of anyone else, and her demeanor was much calmer as a result.

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Fate: Rogue survived the events of the story, but she is now under Apocalypse's influence, acting as his queen.

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Name: Kurt Darkholme

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Affiliation: The Darkholme Brotherhood

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Powers: Capable of teleportation, has a prehensile tail and enhanced agile

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Known Relatives: Mystique (mother), Rogue (sister) Scott, Toad (adoptive brothers)

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History: Kurt was never separated from his mother, who was more docile when she had a family. Kurt had no accent and liked to wear black, but otherwise was very similar to the original Kurt, though he is more proud to be a mutant.

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Fate: Kurt's neck was snapped by Apocalypse.

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Name: Todd Wyngarde (Toad)

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Affiliation: The Darkholme Brotherhood

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Powers: Increased leg strength, long tongue, capable of producing sticky green slime

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Known Relatives: Mystique (adoptive mother), Scott, Rogue, Nightcrawler (adoptive siblings), Jean Grey (adopted sister), Mastermind (father)

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History: Toad, along with Jean Grey, was raised by Mastermind. When Mastermind was killed, Mystique, his friend and team-mate, honored his desire to raise Todd. Toad is very close to his new family, and feels very confident around them.

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Fate: Toad survived the events of the story and will remain on Earth with the new X-Men.

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The Pure Blood Movement

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Name: En Sabah Nur (Apocalypse)

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Affiliation: Himself

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Powers: Apocalypse has the power of twelve mutants: telepathy (Xavier), mutant detection (Caliban), super strength (Juggernaut), teleportation (Kurt), explosive blasts (Jubilee), death spores (Omega Red), healing factor (Sabretooth), geological control (Lance), shapeshifting (Mystique), solar collection (Alex Summers), telekinesis (Jean) and mental influence (Stryker)

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Known Relatives: None

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History: The first mutant, En Sabah Nur was a powerful warrior and pharaoh from ancient Egypt. Fearing his power, his underlings sealed him away in Tibet behind three doors. After thousands of years, Dr. Nathaniel Essex and Dr. Cain Marko found the tomb of Apocalypse and discovered its secrets. Before they could unlock the tomb, a mysterious time-traveler appeared and broke into the tomb... but Apocalypse survived. He infiltrated the mind of Dr. Essex and from there, he influenced him and manipulated the Pure Blood Movement into serving him, taking the blood samples of various mutants to create a new body for himself.

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Fate: Apocalypse has been revived in a new body, stronger than ever.

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Name: Father William Stryker

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Affiliation: Pure Blood Movement

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Powers: Mental influence (inactive mutation; Stryker himself was unaware of it for most of his life)

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Known Relatives: Caliban (son)

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History: Father Stryker is one of the greatest opponents of mutants, seeing them as dangerous and loathsome, and using false Biblical evidence to justify his hatred, claiming that mutants weren't created by God and go against his designs. Stryker spreads anti-mutant propaganda, appealing to all religions, but in secret, he has taken over the Pure Blood Movement. Stryker hides many dark secrets: among them, that he has an illegitimate son, who happens to be a mutant.

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Fate: Father Stryker was revealed to be a mutant and his viewpoint changed. He made peace with his son before killing himself.

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Name: Caliban (The X-Cutioner)

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Affiliation: Pure Blood Movement

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Powers: Capable of detecting and tracking mutants; further mutation added enhanced strength, agility, and stamina

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Known Relatives: Father Stryker (father)

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History: Caliban was the illegitimate son of anti-mutant priest William Stryker, and abandoned as an infant. He was rescued by Dr. Essex/Apocalypse and taken to an orphanage in New York, where he was then found by Magneto. After growing tired of human violence, Caliban was convinced by Apocalypse, in Dr. Essex's body, to betray the X-Men, then fake his own death. Apocalypse introduced him to Viper, who saw in him the potential as a mutant hunter. Hoping to earn the love of his mutant-hating father, who happened to be Viper's ally, Caliban agreed. He was given the title X-Cutioner by the media after the slaughter of several mutants allied with the X-Men.

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Fate: Caliban survived the events of the story; he has made peace with his father, but he continues to search for his true purpose.

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Name: Madame Viper, the Supreme Hydra

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Affiliation: Pure Blood Movement

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Powers: None; normal human

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Known Relatives: None

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History: Former leader of the terrorist organization Hydra, Viper has transformed the organization into a platform for the Pure Blood Movement. A fanatical anarchist, Viper realizes that the movement's goal will bring about total chaos, and so she helps the human bigots in order to further her own cause.

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Fate: Viper was killed by the human-hunting legacy spores.

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Name: Dr. Nathaniel Essex

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Affiliation: Pure Blood Movement (unwillingly)

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Powers: None; normal human

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Known Relatives: None

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History: Dr. Essex is a geneticist from England. He has been captured by the Pure Blood Movement to use his knowledge for their evil purposes. In reality, Dr. Essex served as a vessel for Apocalypse's weakened mind. Dr. Essex is not an evil man and he is ashamed of the evil Apocalypse has forced him to commit.

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Fate: Dr. Essex was spared by the legacy spores due to Apocalypse's design, but Apocalypse wounded his mind so terribly that Dr. Essex would not live long after being separated. He dies shortly after the story closes.

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Name: The Professor (name unrevealed)

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Affiliation: Pure Blood Movement, Project Weapon X

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Powers: None; normal human

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Known Relatives: None

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History: The Professor was the head of Project Weapon X and oversaw the adamantium bonding process used on Sabretooth, though Wolverine escaped before they could do the same to him. Now he has been hired by Viper to work with mutants.

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Fate: The Professor was killed by the human-hunting legacy spores.

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Name: General Bolivar Trask

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Affiliation: Pure Blood Movement

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Powers: None; normal human

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Known Relatives: None

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History: Dr. Bolivar Trask was once a member of S.H.I.E.L.D., until he left to become a mutant hunter. It was well-known that Trask was a mutant-hating bigot, but when Apocalypse's forces began to hunt down humans, his old colleagues began to see his way as the right way and joined his anti-mutant crusade. Dr. Trask rallied the remaining members behind him and organized the Pure Blood Movement, a way of gathering human soldiers in his war against mutants. Dr. Trask was assassinated before the movement became militant, and ironically, this only fueled anti-mutant violence.

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Fate: Assassinated by Caliban, though the Morlocks were framed.

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Worthington Towers

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Name: Warren Worthington III (Angel)

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Affiliation: Ally of the X-men

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Powers: Capable of flight through feathered wings.

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Known Relatives: None

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History: One of the original X-Men, Angel remains a close friend and ally of Magneto. Warren Worthington hides his wings in public, and as owner of several companies based in New York, he must maintain his human face. His hired servants, Lance, Robert and Kate, are really mutant students of his. He prefers training one-on-one instead of in large classes. Angel is a sensible but temperamental man.

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Fate: Warren survived the events of the story; he is now setting up a shelter for mutants with Callisto.

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Name: Lance Alvers

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Affiliation: Loyal to Angel/Ally of the X-Men

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Powers: Capable of geological manipulation

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Known Relatives: None

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History: Lance was a young boy from Illinois who had gotten into some trouble with the law, along with his friend Kate. Magneto sent Angel to help them out. Angel petitioned to train them himself, and Magneto trusted him enough to allow it. Lance and Kate now stay with Angel, pretending to be hired servants in order to hide their mutant abilities.

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Fate: Lance survived the events of the story with minor injuries.

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Name: Kate Pryde

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Affiliation: Loyal to Angel/Ally of the X-Men

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Powers: Capable of phasing molecules, effectively moving through solid matter

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Known Relatives: None

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History: Kate was a young girl from Illinois who had inadvertently gotten into some trouble with the law because of her friend Lance. Magneto sent Angel to help them out. Angel petitioned to train them himself, and Magneto trusted him enough to allow it. Kate and Lance now stay with Angel, pretending to be hired servants in order to hide their mutant abilities.

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Fate: Kate survived the events of the story.

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Name: Robert Drake

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Affiliation: Loyal to Angel/Ally of the X-Men

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Powers: Capable of creating ice

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Known Relatives: None

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History: Robert Drake ran away from home when his family discovered that he was a mutant. Magneto had originally approached him and brought him to the Xavier Institute, but Robert didn't like being in large groups. Noting this, Magneto offered the obvious solution: he sent him to Angel.

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Fate: Robert survived the events of the story.

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Storm's Team

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Name: Ororo Monroe (Storm)

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Affiliation: Herself

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Powers: Capable of sensing and manipulating weather

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Known Relatives: Spyke (nephew)

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History: Growing up as a pickpocket in New York, Storm eventually became an underworld kingpin, recruiting only mutants into her organization. Her nephew Spyke is her top enforcer.

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Fate: Storm survived the events of the story, though her underworld empire collapsed. She has taken in Colossus.

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Name: Evan Daniels

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Affiliation: Loyal to Storm

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Powers: Capable of creating bone-spikes and firing them

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Known Relatives: Storm (aunt)

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History: When Evan Daniels's parents were killed by mutant hunters looking for Evan, he went to live with his aunt Ororo. Storm was one of the original X-Men, but since graduation went into a career in the underworld, and now she is a powerful crime boss. Evan has been persuaded into joining her, and is now her right-hand man.

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Fate: Evan was crushed to death by Apocalypse.

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Name: Remy LeBeau (Gambit)

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Affiliation: Loyal to Storm

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Powers: Capable of charging objects with explosive energy

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Known Relatives: None

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History: Gambit was a thief in New Orleans when Magneto discovered him. Gambit had originally been invited to join the X-Men, but he declined Magneto's offer. When he left, Storm approached him and made him a deal... if he worked for her, he could eventually lead a life of wealth. Gambit being Gambit, he accepted. As a legacy addict, Gambit was heavily affected by the virus it carried.

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Fate: Gambit was killed by the legacy virus's nanotechnology.

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Name: Tabitha "Tabby" Smith

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Affiliation: Loyal to Storm

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Powers: Capable of creating tiny spheres of explosive energy as well as time the explosions and control their intensity

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Known Relatives: None

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History: Tabitha's father led her into a life of crime. When he was imprisoned, she had nowhere to go, until Storm offered her a place in her organization. Tabby was primarily a drug dealer for Storm; unfortunately, her addiction to her own stock spelled her fate.

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Fate: Tabby was killed by the legacy virus's nanotechnology.

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Name: Piotr Rasputin (Colossus)

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Affiliation: Loyal to Storm

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Powers: Capable of changing skin into organic metal, as well as super-strength

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Known Relatives: A mother and father, brother and sister

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History: A Russian immigrant, he has come to work for Storm in order to provide for his mother and younger siblings.

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Fate: Colossus survived the events of the story, though his family did not. His younger sister survived and he remains loyal to Storm.

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Name: Jack Logan (Wolverine/Weapon X)

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Affiliation: Loyal to Storm (fighter)/later loyal to Hydra/Later loyal to himself

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Powers: Enhanced senses and healing factor, retractable claws; further mutation added extremely strong bones and a faster healing factor

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Known Relatives: None

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History: Logan was a member of the Canadian Special Forces when he was captured by the Weapon X project. He managed to escape, but after that, his life story is largely unknown. When he was attacked by mutant hunters- too many for him to deal with alone- he was saved by Storm, who offered him a job as a cage fighter. Logan was not under contract to Storm and was later captured by Hydra and forced to become Weapon X. His control headgear was damaged and Logan is more or less free again.

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Fate: Logan survived the events of the story and appears to be hunting Sabretooth.

Pure Blood Captives

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Name: Forge (name unknown)

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Affiliation: Pure Blood Movement (captured), formerly X-Men instructor

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Powers: Capable of conceiving and building new technology

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Known Relatives: None

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History: Forge is a middle-aged man who once worked as an instructor for the first generation of X-Men. He has since retired, and has now been captured by the Pure Blood Movement to use his power for their own purposes.

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Fate: Forge survived the events of the story, though he is now under Apocalypse's influence.

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Name: Mesmero (name unknown)

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Affiliation: Pure Blood Movement (captured)

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Powers: Capable of mentally controlling others

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Known Relatives: None

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History: Mesmero worked at a carnival, but was captured by the Pure Blood Movement in order to enslave Forge to do their bidding. Mesmero refused to do so and they were forced to lobotomize him. Now he is just a body without a mind, forced to use his powers against other mutants because he can no longer think or care about anything.

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Fate: Mesmero survived the events of the story.

Name: Jason Wyngarde (Mastermind)

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Affiliation: Pure Blood Movement (captured), formerly X-Men instructor

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Powers: Capable of projecting illusions into the minds of others; further mutation allowed greater mental control with minimal concentration

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Known Relatives: Jean Grey (daughter), Toad (son)

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History: Mastermind's life is mostly unknown, except that he had two children, and though he was a good father, he was captured and his children thought him dead. He had been captured by Dr. Trask and studied, but after several years, Trask died. Command of the Pure Blood Movement fell to Viper, and she made Mastermind's imprisonment even worse. Mastermind escaped and returned to the X-Men.

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Fate: Mastermind survived the events of the story and has agreed to go aboard Avalon.

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Name: Dr. Cain Marko (Juggernaut)

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Affiliation: Pure Blood Movement (captured)

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Powers: Super-strength and near-invulnerability

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Known Relatives: None

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History: Half-brother of the late Charles Xavier, Dr. Marko never settled his grudge against his brother, but eventually became more docile, partly because as Xavier's only living relative, he had his brother to thank for his inherited wealth. Juggernaut is an archaeologist and was once a colleague of Dr. Nathaniel Essex. He is aware of that Dr. Essex is under Apocalypse's control; Juggernaut is also under direct hypnosis, though he must be contained, as the hypnosis does not last long

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Fate: Juggernaut survived the events of the story.

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Name: Victor Creed (Sabretooth)

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Affiliation: Pure Blood Movement (captured)

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Powers: Super-strength, enhanced senses and a healing factor

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Known Relatives: None

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History: It is unknown just what Sabretooth's involvement with Weapon X was, but it appears he has been a captive of Hydra (now the Pure Blood Movement) for years.

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Fate: Sabretooth survived the events of the story and appears to be hunting Logan.

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Callisto's Team

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Name: Callisto Guccione

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Affiliation: Herself

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Powers: Enhanced senses and agility, as well as night-vision

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Known Relatives: None

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History: Callisto's early life is a mystery, but it is known that she was one of the original X-Men. Since graduation, Callisto has become a mutant rights activist and now runs her own boarding house for mutant outcasts as well as training them in the use of their powers, a move Magneto greatly welcomes.

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Fate: Callisto survived the events of the story; she is now setting up a shelter for mutants with Warren.

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Name: Ray Crisp (Berzerker)

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Affiliation: Loyal to Callisto

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Powers: Capable of generating electrical blasts

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Known Relatives: None

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History: One of three survivors of the Morlock massacre, Berzerker was found by Callisto and taken in. Still frightened and confused, Berzerker is the only Morlock to have seen the X-Cutioner's face.

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Fate: Berzerker survived the events of the story.

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Name: Jubilation Lee (Jubilee)

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Affiliation: Loyal to Callisto

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Powers: Capable of creating colorful bursts of energy

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Known Relatives: None

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History: A mutant runaway who has seen the brutality of human bigots, she hopes that Callisto's activism will work, but if not, Jubilee is prepared for war.

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Fate: Jubilee survived the events of the story.

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Name: Arkady Russovich (Omega Red)

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Affiliation: Loyal to Callisto

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Powers: Capable of generating life-draining pheromones; carbonadium tendrils non-mutant in origin

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Known Relatives: None

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History: Arkady Russovich was a super-soldier trained by the Soviet Union, but when it collapsed, Omega Red found himself without a job. He went to the United States looking for work, and originally, he had been approached by Storm, but Callisto instead took him in and slowly, she is helping him recover from his mental instability. Arkady now serves as groundskeeper at Callisto's boarding house. He was briefly captured by Hydra and hypnotized.

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Fate: Arkady survived the events of the story and continues working as a groundskeeper.

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Name: Scaleface (real name unknown)

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Affiliation: Loyal to Callisto

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Powers: Capable of transforming into a dragon-like creature

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Known Relatives: None

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History: One of three survivors of the Morlock massacre, Scaleface was found by Callisto and taken in.

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Fate: Scaleface survived the events of the story.

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Name: Torpid

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Affiliation: Loyal to Callisto

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Powers: Capable of paralyzing others through touch

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Known Relatives: None

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History: One of three survivors of the Morlock massacre, Torpid was found by Callisto and taken in.

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Fate: Torpid survived the events of the story.

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The New Mutants

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Name: Danielle Moonstar

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Affiliation: X-Men/New Mutants

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Powers: Capable of generating psionic blasts that trigger bad memories and or fears

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Known Relatives: None

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History: Danielle isn't friendly or outgoing, but she has proven that she is reliable and will likely be upgraded to a full X-Men member in the future. She is dating Pyro, though you might not know that just by looking at them.

****

Fate: Danielle survived the events of the story; she remained on Earth as part of Wanda's new X-Men.

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Name: Roberto Da Costa (Sunspot)

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Affiliation: X-Men/New Mutants

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Powers: Capable of absorbing solar energy and converting it into physical strength

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Known Relatives: None

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History: Little is known about Sunspot.

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Fate: Unknown.

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Name: Amara Aquila (Magma)

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Affiliation: X-Men/New Mutants

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Powers: Capable of generating fire and transforming into a fire-like state

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Known Relatives: None

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History: Little is known about Magma, except she's developed a rather one-sided crush on Pyro.

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Fate: Amara was infected by legacy, but survived.

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Name: Dorian Leech (Leech)

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Affiliation: X-Men/New Mutants

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Powers: Capable of creating an energy field that nullifies mutant powers and electronic equipment

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Known Relatives: None

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History: Leech is shy and paranoid, but is slowly overcoming his worries.

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Fate: Dorian survived the events of the story.

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Name: Rahne Sinclair (Wolfsbane)

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Affiliation: X-Men/New Mutants

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Powers: Capable of transforming into a wolf

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Known Relatives: None

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History: Little is known about Wolfsbane.

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Fate: Unknown.

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Name: Sam Guthrie (Cannonball)

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Affiliation: X-Men/New Mutants

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Powers: Capable of jet-propulsion, limited invulnerability while in flight

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Known Relatives: None

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History: Little is known about Cannonball.

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Fate: Unknown.

Name: Jamie Madrox (Multiple)

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Affiliation: X-Men/New Mutants

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Powers: Capable of creating exact physical duplicates of himself

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Known Relatives: None

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History: Little is known about Multiple.

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Fate: Jamie was infected by legacy, but survived.

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Other Characters

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Name: Nick Fury

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Affiliation: SHIELD

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Powers: None; normal human

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Known Relatives: None

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History: Nick Fury is a high-ranking member of SHIELD and is willing to work with the X-Men to achieve his goals. He has a particular hatred for the Pure Blood Movement. He tried to help the X-Men, but SHIELD was disbanded and he found himself unable to do anything about Hydra's control over the government.

****

Fate: Unknown; he is presumed dead at the hands of legacy spores, but nobody knows for sure.

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Name: Proteus (original body Takla Sharwa/"Kevin")

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Affiliation: Taken in by the X-Men, and later adopted by Apocalypse

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Powers: The full extent of Proteus's powers are unknown, but he is capable of draining and creating energy, and to some extent, manipulation of reality itself

****

Known Relatives: Unnamed mother, Apocalypse (adoptive father)

****

History: Apocalypse knew that Takla Sharwa, alias Proteus, would destroy him in the future, and decided to send back Shifter to alter time, and his younger self would take Proteus as his son, rather than an enemy. Apocalypse ordered his Horsemen to destroy the human village in Tibet where the child was born. Archangel, the Horseman of Death left the child behind, claiming that he was not found. The X-Men later found him and took him in, and Magneto asked his old friend Mystique to watch after the child, who she named Kevin. After several battles, Apocalypse finally took the child, and using an alternate version of Shifter, generated enough energy to awaken his dormant powers. As Apocalypse had known the original Proteus to be a worthy adversary, he honored him by naming the child Proteus. Using his ability to merge with others, he absorbed several other mutants, and through this merger, he knew everything they knew. He learned of Apocalypse's evil and cruelty and destroyed him, absorbing all of his life energy- enough to power his final form, one that exists in a real beyond human comprehension. Using the young Shifter (Paul McGregor)'s time-traveling abilities and his own reality-warping powers, Proteus now exists in two timelines at once, capable of observing both times, but refusing to react. The only one who knows about him is Shifter, who has gone into hiding.

****

Fate: Proteus's final fate remains unclear; it is believed that he was elevated into a different form of existence after draining the energy of Apocalypse. He was elevated to the point that he could only speak to Paul McGregor, but with his death, Proteus's role remains unclear. The full history of Proteus is covered in **_Age of Apocalypse: Alternate Reality_**.

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Name: Private Paul McGregor (young Shifter)

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Affiliation: Pure Blood Movement, later an ally of the X-Men

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Powers: Capable of moving through time and space; essentially teleportation and time-travel. However, when traveling through time (he can only move backwards, not forwards), he must wait as long as he has traveled before doing so again (i.e., if he goes back five minutes, he must wait five minutes before he can travel again)

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Known Relatives: "old" Shifter (time-displaced alternate self), the original Shifter (alternate, older self)

****

History: Private McGregor was originally a member of Trask's army, and even had the important job of delivering the long-missing XT Sentinel plans to Trask. A routine blood test revealed that McGregor was a mutant, though his powers had yet to truly manifest and he was completely unaware. Ironically, he became to first test subject for the XT Sentinel, but his powers were activated before he could be killed, and Trask mistook his disappearance for death. He was trapped in an interdimensional void until an alternate version of him, called Shifter, found him and explained his powers and history to him... it turned out that in the original timeline, McGregor was the original Shifter, a servant of Apocalypse who went back in time to kill Professor Xavier. McGregor trusted Shifter, who was himself a servant of Apocalypse, but he was ultimately betrayed.

****

Fate: McGregor attempted to finish Apocalypse, but he was killed. The full history of Shifter is covered in **_Age of Apocalypse: Alternate Reality_**.

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Name: Ed Kelly

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Affiliation: Himself; later hired by Pure Blood Movement

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Powers: None; normal human

****

Known Relatives: None

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History: Ed Kelly made his mark as an investigative reporter for the show "The Bottom Line." When Viper took control of the government and the media, Kelly was hired to help spread anti-mutant propaganda.

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Fate: Kelly was killed by human-hunting legacy spores.

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Name: Dr. Patronete

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Affiliation: Neutral

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Powers: None; normal human

****

Known Relatives: None

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History: Dr. Patronete, along with his colleagues Marko and Essex, discovered the tomb of Apocalypse. As an anthropologist, Patronete was interested in the tomb, but like Marko, he quickly realized how dangerous it was. Patronete later helped translate the hieroglyphs found in Apocalypse's chamber.

****

Fate: Patronete was killed by human-hunting legacy spores.

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Random Cameos

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Name: Alex Summers

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Affiliation: None

****

Powers: Capable of firing blasts of energy in centralized beams or in wide bursts

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Known Relatives: Scott Darkholme (brother)

****

History: Alex Summers accidentally caused the plane crash that killed the Summers; Scott was the only survivor.

****

Fate: Killed in the same plane accident that claimed Scott's parents; his grave was later robbed to obtain cell samples for Apocalypse.

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Name: Spiral

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Affiliation: Working for Storm (bartender)

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Powers: Six arms, magic spells

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Seen: Chapter 1 (Mutant Underground), referred to as "six-armed woman."

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Fate: Hell if I know.

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Name: Senyaka

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Affiliation: Unknown

****

Powers: Able to create psionic whips, and some other stuff, I guess

****

Seen: Chapter 1 (Mutant Underground), referred to as " whip-wielder."

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Fate: Stabbed and eye-blasted by Scott Darkholme; whether or not he survived is unknown.

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Name: Chamber

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Affiliation: One of Evan Daniels's thugs

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Powers: Energy blasts, telepathy

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Seen: Chapter 2 (The Mutant Massacre), referred to as "a black-haired man wearing a scarf that covered his mouth."

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Fate: Killed by the X-Cutioner at St. Laurence's Cathedral.

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Name: Post

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Affiliation: One of Evan Daniels's thugs

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Powers: Enhanced strength, the ability to shape his rock-skin into various weapons

****

Seen: Chapter 2 (The Mutant Massacre), referred to as "a gray-skinned man with what appeared to be rocks growing out of his skin here and there."

****

Fate: Killed by the X-Cutioner at St. Laurence's Cathedral.

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Name: Captain Britain (though in the comics, not actually a mutant... we'll let that slide and say no more)

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Affiliation: One of Evan Daniels's thugs

****

Powers: Enhanced strength, flight

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Seen: Chapter 2 (The Mutant Massacre), referred to as "a blonde man wearing a shirt bearing the British flag."

****

Fate: Killed by the X-Cutioner at St. Laurence's Cathedral.

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Name: Thunderbird

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Affiliation: One of Evan Daniels's thugs

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Powers: Enhanced strength

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Seen: Chapter 2 (The Mutant Massacre), referred to as "a well-built Native American with a red eagle tattooed onto his face."

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Fate: Killed by the X-Cutioner at St. Laurence's Cathedral.

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Name: Siryn

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Affiliation: X-Men (recruits)

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Powers: Enhanced vocal cords which allow her to emit a powerful scream, and fly for some reason

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Seen: Chapter 2 (The Mutant Massacre), referred to as "a young red-haired girl."

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Fate: Unknown; may have been killed by the X-Cutioner at the Xavier Institute.

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Name: Dummy

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Affiliation: X-Men (recruits)

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Powers: Unknown, but he is made entirely out of gas and must remain in a bodysuit

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Seen: Chapter 2 (The Mutant Massacre), referred to as "a young child in a black bodysuit."

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Fate: Unknown; may have been killed by the X-Cutioner at the Xavier Institute.

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Name: Husk

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Affiliation: X-Men (recruits)

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Powers: Able to shed outer layer of skin to reveal a new form underneath

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Seen: Chapter 2 (The Mutant Massacre), referred to as "girl with blonde hair."

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Fate: Unknown; may have been killed by the X-Cutioner at the Xavier Institute.

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Name: Bishop

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Affiliation: X-Men (recruits)

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Powers: Able to absorb energy and redirect it as his own blasts

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Seen: Chapter 2 (The Mutant Massacre), referred to as "a young African-American boy wearing a black braid."

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Fate: Unknown; may have been killed by the X-Cutioner at the Xavier Institute.

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Name: Cypher

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Affiliation: X-Men (recruits)

****

Powers: Able to instantly learn foreign languages (what kind of power is this?!)

****

Seen: Chapter 2 (The Mutant Massacre), "One had tried to get past by confusing Scott with random words in various languages, but it had obviously failed."

****

Fate: Unknown; may have been killed by the X-Cutioner at the Xavier Institute.

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Name: Maggot

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Affiliation: X-Men (recruits)

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Powers: Digestive system has transformed into two maggot-like creatures

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Seen: Chapter 2 (The Mutant Massacre), "One boy carrying two maggot-like creatures on him hadn't even tried [to get past Scott]."

****

Fate: Unknown; may have been killed by the X-Cutioner at the Xavier Institute.

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The Twelve

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1. Professor X **_(telepathy)_**

2. Caliban **_(mutant hound)_**

3. Juggernaut **_(super strength)_**

4. Nightcrawler **_(teleportation)_**

5. Jubilee **_(explosive blasts)_**

6. Omega Red **_(death spores)_**

7. Sabretooth **_(healing factor)_**

8. Avalanche **_(earthquake control)_**

9. Mystique **_(shapeshifting)_**

10. Havok **_(solar energy collection)_**

11. Jean Grey **_(telekinesis)_**

12. Stryker **_(mental influence)_**


End file.
